of February, about one o’clock in the morning, and called for her
father; that she asked one of them his name, and he said it was William
Jackson. Her father who was then very ill, said they might come if they
would; that Jackson did come in, and asked if they could not bring a
couple of men there for a little while, to which she answered “No,”
because her father was ill; and thereupon Jackson turned to the other
man, and said, “We cannot think of abiding here, as the man is so ill,”
and so they went away. She saw that Jackson’s hand was bloody.
She was ordered to look at the prisoners Jackson and Carter, and see if
they were the two men that came, and she said Jackson was one, for that
she took particular notice of him, his hand being bloody, and that she
verily believed Carter was the other.
Then the King’s Counsel called William Scardefield, who deposed that he
kept the Red Lion, at Rake, in the parish of Rogate, and that in the
night, between the 14th and 15th of February, Jackson and Carter, with
Steel and Richards, came to his house and called out to him, “For God’s
sake get up and let us in”; then he let them in, and saw they were
bloody. He asked them how they came to be so; and they said they had an
engagement and lost their goods, and some of their men they feared were
dead and some wounded. That they said they would go and call them that
were at the other public-house; and while he was gone into the cellar,
he heard horses come to the door; and some of the men went into the
kitchen, some into the brewhouse, and some into the parlours. That he
saw two or three men in the brewhouse, and there lay something like a
man before them in the brewhouse, by the brewhouse door, and he heard
them say he was dead. That some of them calling for liquor, he carried
a glass of gin into the parlour, and saw a man standing upright in
the parlour, with his face bloody and one eye swelled very much. That
Richards was in the parlour with the man, and objected to his coming
in, and Carter and Jackson and three others were then in the brewhouse,
and Steel was with them. After they had drunk three mugs of hot, they
got their horses out and sent him down for some brandy and rum, but
when he came up with it they were gone 20 yards below the house, though
several of them came back to drink, one or two at a time. That he did
not know what became of the man that he saw in the parlour; but he
observed they separated into two companies; that one of the company, a
little man, asked him if he did not know the place where they formerly
laid up some goods; and the prisoner Carter came back, and said they
must have a lantern and spade. That Richards fell in a passion because
he refused to go along with them, and upon seeing him coming towards
them with a light, the company parted: that he saw a horse stand at a
little distance, and there seemed to him to be a man lying across the
horse, and two men holding him on, and he believed the person he saw
lying across the horse was dead, but he was not nigh enough to see
whether he was or not. That when they came to the place, one of the
little men began to dig a hole; and it being a very cold morning, he,
the witness, took hold of the spade and helped to dig; and in that
hole the company buried the body that lay across the horse. That on
the Wednesday or Thursday following, about twelve or one at noon, the
prisoners Jackson and Carter, and all the rest of the company came
again to his house; and the prisoners Richard Mills the younger, and
his brother John, were sent for, and came to them.
Edward Sones proved that on the 16th or 17th of September last he found
the body of a dead man in a well in Harris’s Wood, within 200 yards
of Lady Holt House, and that there were two pieces of timber over the
body. That he went immediately to get the coroner’s inquest, and when
he came back he saw the man had boots on, and there was a rope about
his neck; that the well is by Lady Holt Park, in the county of Sussex.
Mr. Brackstone produced the boots and a belt that were taken off the
body, and given him by the Coroner.
Mrs. Chater, the widow of Daniel Chater, deposed that she remembered
her late husband set out from Southampton on the 14th February last,
and that she had never seen him since that time; she looked upon the
belt produced by Mr. Brackstone, and said she knew it was the same belt
her husband had on when he set out from home, by a particular mark in
it; and she believed the boots produced were likewise her husband’s.
Mr. Sones proved also, that the horse which Chater set out upon was
found about a month afterwards and delivered to the owner.
The King’s Counsel submitted it here.
Mr. Justice Foster acquainted the prisoners that the King’s Counsel,
having gone through their evidence, it was now time to offer what they
could in their own defence.
He repeated to each of the prisoners the particular facts the evidence
had charged him with, and asked them severally what they had to say to
clear themselves of that charge.
To which the prisoner Tapner said he did not know that they were going
to murder the man, but Jackson and Richards threatened to kill him if
he would not go with them, and he received three or four cuts from
Hammond or Daniel Perryer, but he did not know which; that Richards and
another man tied the rope; and he denied that he drew a knife and cut
Chater across the face.
Mr. Justice Foster told him, that supposing he was threatened in the
manner he insisted on, yet that could be no legal defence in the
present case; and that in every possible view of the case, it was
infinitely more eligible for a man to die by the hands of wicked men,
than to go to his grave with the guilt of innocent blood on his own
head.
Cobby said he did not know what they were going to do with the man,
that he never touched him, and he knew nothing of the murder.
Hammond said when he understood what they were going to do, he wanted
to go off and make a discovery; but the company prevented him; and that
by the company he meant all the prisoners.
Richard Mills the elder, said he did not know what they were at, and
did not think they would hurt the man; and did not know he was chained
till after they were gone away.
Richard Mills the younger, said he knew nothing of the matter, and
never saw either of the men (Galley and Chater) in his life; he
acknowledged that he was at Scardefield’s house, but said he knew
nothing of the murder, and denied the charge; that Scardefield was the
only witness he had, for he (Scardefield) knew when he came, and how
long he stayed there.
Jackson said, the man who said he would be Chater’s butcher, was his
butcher, and nobody else, that he (Jackson) was not by when he was
murdered, and was not guilty of it.
Mr. Justice Foster cautioned him not to deceive himself, and told him
that with regard to the present charge, it was not necessary that he
should have been present at the murder; he was not charged with being
present, but as an accessary before the fact in advising and procuring
the murder to be done: and that was the fact he was called upon to
answer.
Carter said that when he went to the widow Payne’s, he only thought
they were going to carry the men out of the way, till they saw what
should become of Dimer, and that he never laid hands upon them; and
went along with the company to prevent mischief.
Scardefield, the witness, was then called again, and Richard Mills
the younger, being asked whether he would ask him any questions, only
desired he might be asked what time he came to his house, and how long
he stayed there; to which Scardefield answered, that Mills came to his
house about half an hour after one; stayed there about an hour and a
half, and went away on foot.
The rest of the prisoners said they had not any witnesses.
Upon which, Mr. Justice Foster opened to the jury the substance of
the indictment as before set forth; and told them that whether the
prisoners or any of them were guilty in manner as therein they are
severally charged, must be left to their consideration, upon the
evidence that had been laid before them.
That in order to enable them to apply the evidence to the several
parts of the charge, it would be proper for him first to acquaint them
how the law determines in cases of this nature; that with regard to
the persons charged as principals, wherever several persons agree
together to commit a murder, or any other felony, and the murder or
felony is actually committed, every person present aiding and abetting
is, in the eye of the law, guilty in the same degree, and liable to
the same punishment as he who actually committed the fact. And the
reason the law goes upon is this, that the presence of the accomplices
gives encouragement, support and protection to the person who actually
commits the fact; and at the same time contributes to his security.
That it is not necessary that the proof of the fact, in cases of this
nature, should come up to the precise form of the indictment; for if
the indictment charges that A did the fact, and that B and C were
present, aiding and abetting, if it be proved that B did the fact, and
that A and C were present aiding and abetting, they will be all guilty
within the indictment.
That accessaries before the fact are those who, not being present in
any sense of the law at the time the fact is committed, have advised
or otherwise approved the fact to be done. These persons, in the case
of wilful murder, will be liable to the same punishment as those who
committed the murder by their instigation, advice or procurement.
He then summed up the evidence very largely, and applied it to the
case of the several prisoners, and concluded, that if upon the whole,
the jury should be of opinion that either of the principals (Tapner,
Cobby, Hammond, or the others charged as principals in the indictment)
did strangle the deceased, and that the prisoners Tapner, Cobby, and
Hammond were present aiding and abetting, they will be within this
indictment.
And if they should be of opinion that the prisoners charged as
accessaries before the fact, did advise, consent to, or procure the
murder, they likewise will be guilty within this indictment, though
they were not present when the fact was committed.
The jury, after some little consideration, gave their verdict, that
Tapner, Cobby, and Hammond were guilty of the murder, as laid in the
indictment: And
Richard Mills the elder, Richard Mills the younger, William Jackson,
and William Carter, were guilty, as accessaries before the fact.
* * * * *
_Chichester, January 18th, 1748–9._
The Judges being in court, the prisoners who were convicted yesterday
were all put to the bar; but Cobby, Hammond, Tapner, and the Mills’s
were set aside, and Jackson and Carter set forward in order to be tried
for the murder of William Galley.
Then the Clerk of the Arraigns bid William Jackson and William Carter
to hold up their hands, which they did, and he then read over to them
the indictment on which they had been arraigned the day before, as
principals in the murder of William Galley, and to which they had
pleaded Not Guilty.
Mr. Steele opened the indictment to the jury, and Mr. Bankes, the
King’s Counsel, spoke to much the same purport as he had done the day
before.
Mr. Smythe, another of the King’s Counsel, spoke as follows, viz.: “I
shall only add a word or two, to explain why these two men, who were
convicted yesterday as accessaries before the fact to the murder of
Chater, and thereby liable to suffer death, should be tried a second
time as principals for the murder of Galley:
“The reasons for it are, in the first place it will be necessary to
convict them as principals for the murder of Galley, otherwise the
accessaries to that murder, either before or after the fact, cannot be
convicted.
“Another reason is, as the intention of all prosecutions, as well as
punishments, is not so much to revenge and punish what is past, as to
deter others from committing the like crimes, it may be of service
to the public to have every circumstance of this cruel transaction
disclosed, to shew how dangerous to their neighbours, and to the
country in general, those persons are who are concerned in smuggling,
and how much it concerns every man to use his utmost endeavours to
suppress, and bring them to justice. And it may have another good
effect in preventing persons from engaging in that lawless practice
when they see it consequently engages them in crimes, which at first
they might never intend; for I believe, if these unhappy men had been
told when they first began smuggling, that the time would come when
they would coolly bathe their hands in the blood of two innocent men,
bad as they now are, they would then have been shocked and startled at
the imagination of it; yet the men are so naturally led from one vice
to another, that having once transgressed the laws of their country,
they have insensibly arrived at such a height of wickedness, as to
commit this heinous crime without the least hesitation or remorse.”
After which the following witnesses were called for the Crown, viz.:--
Mr. Milner, Mr. Shearer, William Galley, son of the deceased, were
severally produced and sworn, and Mr. Milner, Mr. Shearer, William
Galley gave the same evidence as on the former trial; as did Mr. Edward
Holton of the deceased and Chater’s calling on him at his house at
Havant, on Sunday, the 14th of February, 1747–8.
Robert Jenks also proved upon the trial the same as he did upon the
former, with this addition:
That when they were at the widow Payne’s, Jackson and Carter both said
they would see the letter for Justice Battine, because they thought the
men were going to swear against the smugglers; that both Jackson and
Carter hindered him from going through the room where the two men were;
and that one of the men had on a blue great coat.
Being cross-examined at the request of Carter, whether he hindered him
from going through the room,
Answered that both the prisoners did.
Joseph Southern, William Lamb, William Garrett and George Poate, proved
the same as upon the former trial.
John Race, to the first part of his evidence relating to his
transactions at the widow Payne’s, added, that the blood ran down from
Galley’s head and face, on Jackson knocking him down; and that Jackson
and Carter were not fuddled when he went away.
Being asked if he was certain the two prisoners were present at
Rowland’s Castle at the consultation that was had to take the men
Galley and Chater away and confine them, said, Yes, he was sure they
were both present.
William Steel, to his former evidence, added, that whilst they were
at the widow Payne’s, Jackson said, that if any of the gang went away
from them, he would shoot them through the head, or through the body,
or serve them as bad as the two men should be served. That he supposed
Jackson meant by this, that he would murder any of their own company,
or use any of them as ill as they did the officer and Chater, if they
left them; that when the company left off whipping Galley with their
thongs and lashes of their whips, as mentioned in the former trial,
because the lashes of the whips reached this witness, they beat him
with the butt-end of their whips, which were very heavy, and loaded
with lead, till one of their whips was beat all to pieces. That the
gravelly knap, where Galley was pushed off the horse, when he died, was
in Conduit-lane, in Rogate parish; and Little Harry pushed him in the
back, and shoved him down; and that Jackson and Carter, Little Sam, and
Richards, were in company when he died; and that they laid his body
upon a horse, and one man held him on one side, and another on the
other side, and so they led the horse along. That Carter and Jackson
went before to call Scardefield up, and when they came there, they laid
Galley’s body down in the brewhouse, at Scardefield’s, and carried
Chater into another room; that they drank every one a dram, and Jackson
and Carter asked Scardefield if he knew any place to bury that man in,
and he said “No.” But they said he must go with them; and they got a
spade, and a candle and lantern, and they laid Galley on horseback
again, and he (the witness), Carter, Little Sam and Scardefield, went
back for about a mile, and he held the horse whilst Scardefield, Carter
and Little Sam went to find the place to bury him in; and when they
had found it, Carter and Sam came back to him, and left Scardefield
to dig the grave. They went and buried him there, and returned back
to Scardefield’s again; that Jackson told them that whilst they were
burying Galley, he and Little Harry went to carry Chater to Old
Mills’s; that they buried Galley two or three feet deep in the heart of
a sand pit. The time at which they buried him was about three or four
o’clock in the morning.
Being cross-examined, and asked by Carter, whether he (Carter) struck
Galley; answered that they all struck him.
Being asked at the request of the prisoners’ Counsel, what was the
consequence of that thrust which Little Harry gave Galley, when he
fell the last time; answered that he thought by the fall Galley’s neck
was broke, because as soon as he was down he gave himself a turn,
and stretched out his hands and legs, and never stirred or spoke
afterwards; that Galley was not falling till Little Harry gave him
the push. Said that he did not know the parish of Rogate, or that the
place where Galley died was within that parish, any otherwise than that
he had been there since, and several people said it was the parish of
Rogate.
Mr. Staniford, who was Counsel for the prisoners, moved, that the place
where Galley died was not in the county of Sussex, and therefore the
prisoners must be acquitted of this indictment; for that the present
special commission, by which their lordships were trying the prisoners,
was only to enquire into murders and felonies committed in the county
of Sussex.
Whereupon the Counsel for the King replied that they would undertake to
prove the place in the county of Sussex; and for that purpose William
Steel was then asked whether the gravelly knap where Galley died was in
the county of Southampton or in the county of Sussex; answered that he
could not tell. That he had never heard, as he remembered, what county
that place was in, but he was carried thither last Friday to see the
place, and he shewed to some people then present the spot of ground
where Galley fell off the horse and died, and he believed he should
know one of the men that were with him.
John Aslett being called up, Steel said he was one of the men that was
there.
Aslett was then sworn, and proved that he was with Steel and some
dragoons on Friday last; that Steel pointed down to the ground with
a stick, and said, “There the man died”; that he (the witness) took
particular notice of that place, and is sure it was in the parish of
Harting in Sussex; that he now lives at Harting, and was born and bred
just by, and had lived there ever since he was a lad, and served the
offices of surveyor and constable.
Steel, being cross-examined, was asked how he could remember the place
so as to be sure of it; said he knew the place very well again by the
little gravelly rising of the ground.
William Scardefield proved the same as in the former trial, with the
following facts relating to the burial of Galley: that one of the gang
asked him if he knew the place where they laid up some goods about a
year-and-a-half ago, and he told them he did; upon which the man said,
“You must go along with us,” but the witness told him his wife was ill,
and he could not leave the house; and then Carter came in and asked
for a lantern, and Edmund Richards told him he must go with them, to
which he replied, if he must go, he must; that when he came down the
hill a little way from his own house, he saw two companies, one on the
right and the other on the left; that Carter, Steel, and a short man
he did not know, went on to the place, and one of them came up after
him, and he told him where it was; upon which they brought the horse
up to a rough kind of a dell, and the short man fell a-digging, and
it being a very cold night, he (the witness) took the spitter and dug
to keep himself warm; there seemed to him to be a man upon the horse,
and it fell into the pit like a dead man, and they covered it up; and
he verily believed it to be the body of a man, but he did not help to
put it in, and was about three or four yards from it; he never went
nigh the ground afterwards, and did not see the body of a man upon the
horse afterwards, or anywhere else; that the earth was thrown over the
pit, and the short man did most of the work; and he did not enquire, or
choose to ask any questions about it.
Edward Sones proved the finding the body of a dead man, in a fox earth,
within three-quarters of a mile of Rake; there were boots upon the
legs, and a glove upon one hand; that the body was much perished, and
had a waistcoat and breeches on.
John Greentree produced a coat which he took up beyond Harting Pond in
the public road, on the 15th of February last, and swore that there
were some writings and a letter-case in the pocket, which he said he
should know if he was to see them again.
Upon this a parchment was delivered into court by Justice Battine, and
shewn to the witness, who said it was the same that he found in the
coat pocket.
It was then read, and appeared to be a deputation under the
commissioners of the customs, dated April, 1731, appointing Galley to
be a tidesman in the port of Southampton.
William Galley, son of the deceased, looked at the coat which the
witness produced, and proved it to be a coat his father had on the 14th
of February, 1747–8, when he set out with Chater for Major Battine’s to
carry a letter to the Major.
John Greentree was called again, and said that the coat was very bloody
when he found it.
The King’s counsel submitted it here, upon which the prisoners being
called upon to make their defence,
The prisoner Carter said he never intended to hurt the man, and never
struck him, and only intended to carry him away to take care of him
till they knew what became of Dimer; and that he had not any witnesses.
The prisoner Jackson said little or nothing, only that he did not kill
the man, nor did he know who did.
The prisoners having neither of them any witnesses to produce, Mr.
Justice Foster opened to the jury the substance of the indictment,
as before set forth, and told them that where several people joined
to do an act in itself unlawful, and death ensues from anything done
in prosecution of that unlawful design, they will be all considered
as principals in murder, if they were all present aiding or abetting
therein; that it was not necessary that each of the prisoners at the
bar should be guilty of every single abuse that was offered to the
deceased in the long series of barbarities the witnesses of the crown
had laid before them; if all or any of these abuses contributed to his
death, and the prisoners at the bar were engaged in the several designs
against him, and present aiding and abetting the others, they will be
guilty within this indictment.
He summed up the evidence very largely, and applied it to the case of
the prisoners; and then left it to the consideration of the gentlemen
of the jury.
The jury, after some little consideration together, gave their verdict,
that William Jackson and William Carter were both Guilty.
The counsel for the crown then moved for judgment; and all the seven
prisoners being set to the bar, and severally asked what they had to
say why judgment of death should not pass on them, Old Mills said he
had nothing to say, only that he knew nothing of the murder of Chater.
Young Mills said he was not at Scardefield’s a quarter of an hour; and
that it was by accident he called there, and that he knew nothing of
the murder.
Hammond and Cobby said they were compelled to stay by Richards and
Jackson, and that they would have made their escape, but could get no
opportunity to do so.
Tapner said he did not cut Chater across the face, neither could he
tell who did.
Jackson and Carter said that they had nothing more to say than what
they had already said,
And none of the prisoners or their counsel having anything to offer in
arrest of judgment, Mr. Justice Foster spoke to them as follows:--
“Benjamin Tapner, John Cobby, John Hammond, William Jackson, William
Carter, Richard Mills the elder, and Richard Mills the younger, you
have been convicted upon very full and satisfactory evidence of the
murder of Daniel Chater; three of you as principals, and the rest as
accessaries before the fact.