Tapner appeared very sensible of his crime, and prayed aloud, and seemed, as I hope he was, very sincere and devout. He declared that Jackson, Cobby and Stringer held three pistols to his head, and swore they would shoot him if he did not go and assist in the murder of Chater, the old shoemaker, who was going to make an information against their shepherd, Dimer, otherwise Diamond; that they also extorted three guineas from him by the same way of threats, to repay Jackson and Carter what they had been out of pocket on that account. He said they were all guilty of the crimes laid to their charge; and that one T—ff, well known in Chichester, and Stringer, John Mills[12] and Richards (all not taken) were as guilty as himself; and as they deserved the same punishment, he hoped they would all be taken, and served the same as he was just going to be. He acknowledged cutting Chater across the face, but did not care to repeat any of the cruelties he had exercised.
We are now come to the conclusion of the trials, and the behaviour of those who were executed at Chichester, and shall next proceed to those that were brought on at the assizes at East Grinstead, where two of the same gang were tried for murder, namely, Sheerman for that of Galley, and John Mills, called Smoker, for that of Hawkins, who was destroyed in as cruel and barbarous a manner as either Galley or Chater.
After which we shall give an account of the trials of the other smugglers, which were very remarkable for the most notorious crimes with which they are charged, such as murder, housebreaking, robberies on the highway, &c. But as Sheerman was tried for the crime for which several others had been already convicted, as has before been related, we think this trial will most properly follow those of his confederates, and with whom he had been concerned throughout the whole course of their villainies.
After which will follow the trial of John Mills, who not only had a hand in the murder of Chater, but likewise was a principal in that of poor Hawkins.
Henry Sheerman, otherwise Little Harry, was indicted for the inhuman murder of William Galley, which the said Sheerman, in company with several others, did perpetrate and accomplish on the said William Galley, by tying and fastening him on a horse, and then lashing, whipping and beating him with their whips, till the said Galley, no longer able to bear the cruel scourges, fell with his head under the horse’s belly, and his feet across the saddle; that being again set upright on the horse, the said prisoner, with the rest, again whipped, beat and bruised him, by the means of which he fell off the second time; and being set on another horse, the said prisoner, with the others, again beat and whipped him, till the said Galley was so terribly bruised and wounded that, being ready to fall off the horse, the prisoner gave him a push, and threw him to the ground, of which blows, wounds and bruises, and fall from the said horse, he died.
The counsel for the King upon this indictment were the same as were upon that against John Mills and John Reynolds, who after laying open and explaining to the court and jury the heinous nature of the offence and the pernicious consequences of smuggling, which generally brought on murder, robbery and other enormous crimes, they produced the following witnesses in support of the charge against the prisoner.
Mr. Shearer, collector of the customs at Southampton, deposed that he received a letter from the commissioners of the customs, informing him that one John Dimer was taken up on suspicion of being concerned with others in breaking open the custom-house at Poole and committed to Chichester gaol; that thereupon he sent one Chater with a letter to Justice Battine under the care of the deceased William Galley, the 14th day of February was twelvemonth, and hired a grey horse for him to ride on.
William Galley, son of the deceased William Galley, deposed that he very well remembered that some time in February was twelvemonth, his father set out on a journey to Justice Battine; that the night before he went he saw the letter and saw the direction upon it, which his father was carrying to the justice; that his father was dressed in a blue great coat, lined with blue, with brass buttons, a light brown close-bodied coat trimmed with blue, his waistcoat and breeches the same, and rode upon a grey horse, and that he never saw his father afterwards.
George Austen deposed that on the 14th of February was twelvemonth, being at the New Inn at Leigh, he saw the deceased William Galley and another person on horseback, and hearing them enquire the way to East Marden, and shewing a letter they had for Justice Battine, he said that he and his brother, Thomas Austin, and his brother-in-law, Robert Jenkes, were going part of that road and would shew them the way; that he went with them to a place called Rowland’s Castle, to a public-house kept by one widow Payne; that being there Galley and his companion called for rum. That the widow Payne enquired of him if he was acquainted with these men, or whether they belonged to his company. He told her they were going to Justice Battine’s; upon which she apprehended there was something in hand against the smugglers, several of whom came in soon afterwards.