RESCUE OF FENIANS AT MANCHESTER — A POLICEMAN KILLED.

Press, Volume XII, Issue 1578, 27 November 1867, Page 3

RESCUE OF FENIANS AT MANCHESTER — A POLICEMAN KILLED.

[From the " Home News," October 2 ] A most daring outrage has been perpetrated by members of the Fenian organization at Manchester, which will certainly lead some of them to the gallows they have long deserved, and from which they have hitherto been preserved by a misplaced lenity. About September 11 the police found four men loitering in the streets in the

middle of the night. Their proceeding excited suspicion that robbery was intended, and they were challenged. In the struggle which then took place "two of the men escaped; the other two vainly endeavoured to draw revolver.* from their pockets, and were cap Lured. The fact of their being thus armed confirmed the conjecture that they were prepared for a desperate enterprise of some kind. The Irish-American accent of the prisoners, and their claim to be treated as American citizens, turned the suspicious of the police in a new direction. In order to afford time for communication with the rrish police, the prisoners were detained under the Vagrant Act, and soon after information was received which left, no doubt that they were men of mark in the Fenian brotherhood. One was " Colonel Kelly," and the other " Captain Deasy." The former is believed to have been Stephens' chi'-f colleague and counsellor, and to have planned and carried out the escape of his chief from Dublin prison. He appears to be a man of daring and ability, and among the Fenians is said to be known as " Kelly, the soldier." Both Kelly and Deasy were engaged in the Fenian rising in March last, though the former is supposed to have advised his friends against it as premature and hopeless. On September 18, the " colonel " and the " captain " were brought up at the Manchester Police Court, and were again remanded.

The justice-room was densely crowded, and a mob soon filled the narrow passage by which the prisoners are conducted to and from the Courthouse. Whether or no the police were able to detect a decided Fenian clement in this gathering, at least one incident occurred to put them on. their guard. Two men of soldierly appearance were noticed lounging about the Court in a suspicious manner all the morning, and it occurred to one of the superintendents that it would be well to secure thetn. As soon as the constables approached with this object one of the couple made off, but the other, after some desperate play with a bowie knife, was overpowered. A double row of constables lined the passage from the Court-house to the prison van ; and the escort to the gaol was increased —seven constables going with the van, and four following in a cab. With one exception, none of the constables carried any arms save their truncheons ; the exception was Brett, the turnkey of the van, who rode inside, and who carried a cutlass.

On the way to the gaol the van.had to pass under a railway arch in Hyde road. Lurking in the shadow of the J arch was a body of men who suddenly came out into the open road as the van reached this point, and contested its passage. It is computed that there j were forty or fifty men in the band, and for the most part they seemed to be somewhat "better dressed than ordinary workmen. Many of them had pistols; others were equipped with hatchets, hammers, and stones. It was evident from their movements that they were acting as an organised force, and one among them—since then identified as O'Meara Allen—appeared to be .in command. It was Allen who shouted to the driver to stop the van, and who fired the first shot at the police. This was the signal for a volley of pistol shot and- stones from the rauks of the assailants. Overwhelmed by the suddenness and vigour of the attack, the police seem to have been at once beaten off. Both horses were shot. The driver was knocked from the box with a heavy stone. Other constables were 'more or less wounded. The attacking party, left in possession of the van, then surrounded it, one section forming an outer guard to resist the ineffectual rushes which the police every now and again made upon them, while those in the inner ring applied themselves to the opening of the van. The roof was battered in with stones. The lock of the door, not yielding readily to the same process, was smashed by the repeated discharge of a revolver. Allen was the leader in this work of destruction. When the door was at last burst open Allen called upon Brett to give up his keys, that the various compartments might be unlocked, and on Brett's refusal shot him through the head, and he died soon afterwards. Allen then released his friends, four women who were in the van escaping at the same time, and there was a general retreat of the Fenians. Kelly and Deasy both got clear off. Allen was caught, and was severely battered while struggling with his captors. He had upon him twenty rounds of cartridge for breech loaders, but had been so»hard pressed that he had not had time to load. Two other men were also stopped in their flight Another couple were taken later on ; and before midnight a score of prison ers were lodged in gaol. The military were in some cases employed to guard the captives. Kelly and Deasy were seen by some brickmakers near Clayton bridge to enter a cottage haudcuffed, and to quit it in a few minutes later with their hands free. No trace of them has since been obtained. The Secretary of State immediately offered a reward of £300 for Kelly and Deasy, and the Corporation of Manchester £200 for the men concerned in the outrage. Thirty-three persons were enlisted in connection with this outrage.

The examination of the prisoners before the Magistrates began on September 26. Their safe conduct to the Court was ensured by an escort of horse and foot, and 100 rank and file were marched up to the Court-house in Bridge street while the prison vans were being conveyed from the gaol. The cortege moved at a quick pace, aud owing to the early hour (half-past eight) there was less popular demonstration than might have been expected. Mr Robinson Fowler, stipendiary magistrate, presided, and a large number of the city justices were also present on the bench. Mr Higgins,deputy-recorder of Manchester, conducted the prosecution. The following prisoners were placed in the dock, charged with the wilful murder of Sergeant Brett, on

September 18 : —- William O'Meara Allen, Edward Shore, Henry Wilson, and William Gould, defended by Mr ! Eruest Jones, barrister; Michael Larkin, Patrick Kelly from Galwav, Charles Moorhouse, John Brennan, John Bacon, and William Martin, defended by Mr Cottingliam, barrister; John F. Nugent and James Sherry, defended by Mr Ward ; Robert McWilliams, defended by Mr Brem ncr; Michael Maguire, Thomas MaSjuire, Michael Morris, Michael Bryan, Michael Corcoran, and Thomas Ryan, defended by Mr Bennett ; and John Carroll. John Gleesou, Michael Kennedy, John Morris, Patrick Kelly (from Lietrim), Hugh Foley, Patrick CofT.-v, Thomas Kelly, and Thomas Scaih'y, defended by Mr W. P. Roberts, instructed by the subscribers to a defence fund. Mr Ernest Jones | and Mr Cottingliam, who appeared for the prisoners, a?ked that th -ir handcuffs might be removed, but the presiding magistrate refused the application, observing that the matter was in the hands of the police, who declared that it would not be safe to accede to the request. A renewal of the application subsequently led to a scene. After some rather strong observations by Mr Jones, Mr Fowler said, " With regard to the manacles, the police have been called upon to protect the interests of justice and the Court, and if they think that the handcuffing of prisoners is part of the measures necessary to be adopted, I cannot take upon myself to order them to be removed ; but if any prisoner is suffering, I will take upon myself to say he shall have some other handcuffs put upon him that do not hurt him." " Then," said Mr Jones, "as a member of the English bar, I decline, to sit in any Court where the police override the magistrates. I will not lend myself to any such violation of the ordinary course of justice. There is your brief Mr Roberts. I am sorry to return it, but I cannot disgrace the bar by proceeding with the defence." Mr Jones then handed back to Mr NuttaU's clerk the brief for the defence of another of the prisoners, and, gathering up his papers and his umbrella, left the Court.

The examination was resumed on September 27, when eleven of the prisoners were discharged and the others remanded. The prisoners were further examined before the stipendiary magistrate on Saturday, September 28. Ultimately the prisoners were again remanded.