47 3-4 Leeson

The Murder of Patrick Howard: A Case Study of Police Crime
in the War of Independence

D. M. Leeson
ire-Ireland, Volume 47:3&4, Fomhar/Geimhreadh / Fall/Winter 2012,
pp. 111-140 (Article)
Published by Irish-American Cultural Institute
DOI: 10.1353/eir.2012.0019
For additional information about this article
Access provided by UFSJ-Universidade Fed de So Joo Del Rei (21 Jun 2013 18:19 GMT)
http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/eir/summary/v047/47.3-4.leeson.html
111 ire-Ireland 47: 3 & 4 Fall/Win 12 The Murder of Patrick Howard
D. M. Leeson The Murder of Patrick
Howard: A Case Study
of Police Crime in the
War of Independence*

ON 1nc cvcNiNc or 1z February 1z1, at about 8:( i:, a woman
named Elizabeth Dillon heard someone calling outside her home in
the village of Balscadden, Co. Dublin. She went to the front door but
saw no one. She then went to the back door, where she heard a man
say, Let me in and Send for the priestI am dying. When she
asked who it was, the voice replied: Pat Howard. Opening the door,
Dillon helped the injured man into her kitchen, where he lay down
on the oor in great pain. She then went for Patricks brother-in-law,
who sent for the priest. The brother-in-law and two other men came
to Dillons house and took Howard home.
1
Sometime after i: the local medical ofcer, Dr. William Fullam,
went to Howards home and examined him. He had been shotonce
in the abdomen and twice in the right arm. Dr. Fullam rendered rst
aid and sent him to Mater Misericordiae Hospital in Dublin.
2
The
wounded man arrived at the hospital around midnight, when he was
1. Deposition of Elizabeth Dillon, Mar. 1z1 (National Archives of the United
Kingdom [hereafter cited as TNA], PRO, HO 1/8).
z. Deposition of William Fullam, Mar. 1z1 (ibid.).
*An earlier version of this article was presented at the November zo11 meeting of
the North American Conference on British Studies in Denver, Colorado. The author
wishes to thank everyone involved in the panel on Policing Revolutionary Ireland:
William H. Kautt, Daniel Masterson, Donald Masterson, the chair Dennis Dworkin,
and the commentator W. J. Lowe. Thanks are also due to James S. Donnelly, Jr., for
his extensive editing of the article.
attended by a resident, Dr. John Geraghty.
3
At about oclock on the
following morning Howard underwent an operation by Dr. William
McAllister. The surgeon found a bullet in Howards abdomen, along
with lacerations of the intestines and peritonitis. According to Dr.
McAllister, After the operation there was no improvement, and the
patient sank and died about 1.(8 hours.
4
The murder of Patrick Howard has heretofore passed unnoticed
by historians. I rst learned about this case in the summer of zooo,
when I visited what was then still called the Public Record Ofce
to conduct research for my doctoral dissertation. While searching
through the les of the Irish Ofce and Irish Branch, I requested le
HO 1/8 without knowing anything about its contents: the catalog
promised only documents concerned with remittance of unexpired
portion of penal servitude sentence of George S. Pearson for mur-
der. Imagine my surprise when my beeper summoned me to the
counter, and I was handed a thick folder containing more than ve
hundred pages of reports and correspondence. The reason for this
bulging folder quickly became clear: Patrick Howard had been mur-
dered by a Black and Tanone of the thousands of British recruits
who had reinforced the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) in 1zo and
1z1. What was more, the police constable who had murdered How-
ard was one of the very few to be put on trial, convicted, and sen-
tenced to death for his crime during those years.
Unfortunately, as a graduate student with a very limited budget, I
had neither the time to take detailed notes nor the money to photo-
copy the case le at fty pence per page. But seven years later, I came
back to what was now the National Archives of Ireland, armed this
time with a digital camera and determined to make sense of this very
complex case. What I found was in some ways normal and in others
exceptional. The murder of Patrick Howard ts the pattern that I
found in other rare cases where police had been caught and punished
. Second Witness (Dr. John Anthony Geraghty), Proceedings of a Court
of Inquiry in Lieu of Inquest Prohibited by Regulation 81 R.O.I.R., Assembled at
Mater Misericordiae Hospital, Dublin, on the 1th Day of February 1z1 by Order of
Major-General G. F. Boyd, C.B., C.M.G. D.S.O., D.C.M., Competent Mily. Authy.
& Comdg. Dublin District, on the Dead Body of Patrick Howard of Balscadden Vil-
lage, Lying at Mater Misericordiae Hospital, Dublin [hereafter cited as MCI (PH)],
1 Feb. 1z1 (ibid.).
(. Third Witness (Dr. V. J. McAllister), MCI (PH), 1 Feb. 1z1 (ibid.).
for their crimes, as described in my book The Black and Tans: Brit-
ish Police and Auxiliaries in the Irish War of Independence, .
In all these exceptional cases the perpetrators had been strangers,
unknown (or at least little known) to the local police, and their vic-
tims had been civiliansloyal or nonpolitical people. There was no
record of even one policeman ever having been punished for any of
the very numerous extrajudicial killings of Irish republican militants
or activists, and the sinister implications of this absence hardly re-
quire comment. But the case of Patrick Howard also shows just how
extremely difcult it was to catch and punish police who broke the
law. In particular, it demonstrates how hard it could be to mount a
successful prosecution when the police themselves were unwilling to
give evidence against each other. In the end, the man who shot Pat-
rick Howard was tried and convicted not because he had confessed,
or because his guilt had been uncovered by patient investigation, but
because he was betrayed by one of his accomplices. Had this accom-
plice merely kept quiet, the mystery might never have been solved.
The facts of the case came out slowly at rst. The village of Bals-
cadden was in the Balbriggan district. The nearest police station was
in Balbriggan itself, three and a half miles away. Word of the shooting
reached Balbriggan at midnight, and the local RIC District Inspec-
tor, Victor William Scully, was informed at z:o a:. Scully led a
Report of Outrage on 1 February that specied the crime as at-
tempted murder and inaccurately identied the victim as Thomas
Howard, a laborer twenty-six years old:
I beg to report that at about 8 p.m. on 1zth inst[ant] three armed
& uniformed men entered the licensed premises of Ellen Landy [of]
Balscadden & held up everyone on the premises with revolvers. One
man, the injured party named overleaf, did not put up his hands as
ordered, but made a dash for the door. Three shots rang out and each
took effect, two in the mans arm & one in his side. He was attended
by a doctor & has since been removed to Dublin to the Mater Hospi-
tal. The motive of the crime is not apparent. Howard is a Sinn Feiner,
but it is merely alleged the raiders were police. They took away with
them the contents of the till, amount unknown. Particulars in the
case are lacking, as police have not been able to visit the scene. When
details have been received, a further report will be made.
5
. Report of Outrage (Attempted Murder), 1 Feb. 1z1 (ibid.).
Scullys report reached RIC headquarters in Dublin Castle on 1(
February. A prcis of this report, which included Scullys mistakes,
was included in the Summary of Outrages prepared each week for
the chief secretary.
A clearer picture of the incident at Balscadden emerged on the
following day, when a military court of inquiry consisting of a British
army captain and two lieutenants assembled at the Mater Hospital in
Dublin.
6
Having viewed Howards body, these ofcers then took evi-
dence from ve civilian witnesses, the most important of whom was
an eighteen-year-old girl named Mary Cannon, who worked as a bar-
maid at Landys public house. Cannon testied that on the day of the
shooting two men dressed in police uniform had entered the pub at
z:o in the afternoon, accompanied by a third man in civilian clothes.
The trio had remained in the bar drinking for about three hours and
had then left. Later, at about ;:o that evening, the two men in police
uniform had returned, had a few more drinks, said they were going
home, and had departed again. Cannons account resumed:
About three minutes later, one of the two uniformed men entered the
bar and said, Hands up. Everybody in the bar put their hands up
except Patrick Howard, who rushed for the front door, where he was
stopped by somebody. He then made a rush for the back door, when
the man who had shouted Hands up, who had his face covered
by a handkerchief, red once. Patrick Howard was then just getting
through the back door. I did not see the result of this shot. There were
four shots red, and the one I saw was the last of them. The man who
red then rushed behind the counter, and pulled out the till, and took
all the money, amounting to about zo. He then rushed out, telling
everybody to keep their hands up until he came back. As he went
through the counter door, the handkerchief slipped down from his
face, and I recognised him as one of the two men who had previously
visited the bar, as I have already stated. That was the last I saw of the
uniformed man. Patrick Howard staggered into a neighbours house,
from where he was removed in an ambulance. I could recognise the
two uniformed men again.
7
Several other witnesses also appeared before the military court.
The two surgeons testied that Patrick Howard had been brought
6. Cover Sheet, MCI (PH), 1 Feb. 1z1 (ibid.).
;. First Witness (Mary Cannon), MCI (PH), 1 Feb. 1z1 (ibid.).
into the Mater Hospital at midnight, that surgery had been performed
on the morning of 1 February, and that their patient had died that
afternoon. In their opinion Howards death was the result of shock,
hemorrhage, and peritonitis from a gunshot wound to the abdomen.
8

The next witness was Patrick Howards older brother Thomas, who
testied that he had come to see Patrick at the hospital, spoken to
him after his operation, and learned from him what had occurred:
I then asked my brother how it happened, and he said,He was
having a drink in Landys public house when an uniformed man told
them to put their hands up. He was a bit frightened and made a
movement in the direction of the door, when he was shot. He went
for the back door and was shot at again. He managed to get to a
neighbours house and was brought in by ambulance. Thomas How-
ard then identied the body as his brothers. The deceased was thirty-
eight years old, unmarried, and a resident of Balscadden, where he
dealt in eggs and poultry. As far as his older brother knew, Patrick
Howard was not a member of any organization.
9

The nal witness before the tribunal was another Balscadden resi-
dent, Peter Cluskey. Cluskey also identied the body of Patrick How-
ard, whom he had known very well. Cluskeys testimony conrmed
that of the dead mans brother: the victim had been an egg dealer
and had not been linked with any organization. Cluskey himself had
been in the bar of Landys public house on the evening of 1z Febru-
ary. Some time about zo.oo hours, he testied, a man dressed in
R.I.C. uniform entered the bar with a handkerchief over his face and
revolver in his hand.
This man I recognised as having been in the bar a short time before.
He called out, Hands up, and everybody put their hands up except
Patrick Howard, who mived [sic] towards the front door. The man
with the revolver immediately red at him. Patrick Howard dropped
at the rst shot, and the man red two more shots at him on the oor.
Patrick Howard then scrambled to his feet and staggered to the back
door, when he was red at a fourth time when he was getting through
the door.
The uniformed man then went behind the counter, pushed the
8. Second Witness (Dr. Geraghty) and Third Witness (Dr. McAllister), MCI
(PH), 1 Feb. 1z1 (ibid.).
. Fourth Witness (Thomas Howard), MCI (PH), 1 Feb. 1z1 (ibid.).
women woman [sic] out of the way and threatened them. He then
took the money from the till and went.
I could identify the man who red the shots, Cluskey concluded.
10

The court of inquiry then adjourned for further evidence. There
is a gap in the records at this pointthough RIC Deputy Inspector
General Charles Walsh added a minute to District Inspector Scullys
report on that same day. Walsh asked the RIC county inspector for
Dublin for a careful enquiry & early report please; he also cor-
rected Patrick Howards rst name.
11
Balscadden was just two miles from the RIC training camp for
British recruits at Gormanston, Co. Meath. Somehow, over the next
couple of days, the police came to suspect that the robbery and mur-
der at Landys public house had been the work of two Black and
Tansboth police motor mechanics stationed at Gormanston: Con-
stables George Pearson and George Smith. On 1; February the Bal-
briggan police came to the camp. Pearson and Smith were placed
under arrest and remanded in custody to Mountjoy Prison in Dub-
lin.
12
These arrests swiftly prompted a threat of reprisals. Both Mary
Cannon and Peter Cluskey received a menacing letter the following
day: Take warning, it said, if you give evidence against the two
police, your doom is sealed. Your immediate death will surely follow.
R.I.P. Revenge is sweet. Signed, B & T.
13
District Inspector Scully
led a new Report of Outrage on zo February:
Two men said to be const[able]s from Gormanston in plain clothes
came to the outskirts of Balscadden village at about ; p.m. on Friday
last. Both were armed; they handed two letters, one addressed to
Cluskey and the other to Miss Cannon, to a young boy and ordered
him to deliver them at once to the addressees. The boy who delivered
them was too frightened to take much notice of the two men. It is sus-
pected the letters were written by or at the instigation of the accuseds,
Pearsons brothers, two of whom are at Gormanston. The motive is to
prevent vital evidence being given against the men charged with mur-
1o. Fifth Witness (Peter Closkey), MCI (PH), 1 Feb. 1z1 (ibid.).
11. Charles A. Walsh to H. M. Lowndes, 1 Feb. 1z1, on Report of Outrage (At-
tempted Murder), 1 Feb. 1z1 (ibid.).
1z. C. Davies, Commandant, RIC Camp, Gormanston, to Walsh, 18 Feb. 1z1;
Lowndes to Walsh, 1 Feb. 1z1 (ibid.).
1. Copy of Threatening Letter, undated (ibid.).
der; a feeling of great terror prevails in Balscadden, and the people
there generally fear what may happen because the two con[stable]s
are to be tried for murder.
14
The people of the locality had good reason to be concerned. Bal-
briggan had been the scene of a savage reprisal a few months earlier
the notorious sack of Balbriggan. On z1 September 1zo, in retalia-
tion for the shooting death of a head constable by the IRA, police from
Gormanston cut a swath of destruction through the village, killing two
republican activists, burning a factory, wrecking public houses, and
setting re to a number of homes.
15
More killings took place in the fol-
lowing month. The IRA executed an ex-soldier who was suspected of
having assisted the police during the sack of Balbriggan; his dead body
was discovered in a ditch near Swords. The security forces retaliated by
killing one IRA Volunteer and burning the homes of two others in Sker-
ries. Two more Volunteers, Jack McCann of Rush and Thomas Hand
of Skerries, were taken out of their homes and shot dead in November
and December.
16
The IRA then struck back in the new year. During
a terribly violent period of three days, in which twenty-one police and
Auxiliaries lost their lives across Ireland, a Black and Tan stationed at
Gormanston was shot and killed in a public house at Balbriggan on
z February 1z1.
17
A week later, Alderman Thomas Halpin and James
Moran were seized from their beds and shot to death in Drogheda,
Co. Louth, just nineteen miles to the north.
18
A few days after that, a
police patrol was ambushed at Ballough, on the road from Balbriggan
to Swords, and a veteran Irish constable was killed.
19
Indeed, the case
of Patrick Howard helps to show just how tense the district was at the
time: the Balbriggan police refused to leave their fortied station after
dark, even to investigate the shooting of a local resident.
1(. Report of Outrage (Threatening Letter), 18 Feb. 1z1 (ibid.).
1. Ross OMahony, The Sack of Balbriggan and Tit-for-Tat Terror, and Da-
vid Fitzpatrick, The Price of Balbriggan, in Terror in Ireland, , ed. David
Fitzpatrick (Dublin: Lilliput Press, zo1z), 8;( and ;1o1.
16. OMahony, Sack of Balbriggan, 6;68.
1;. Richard Abbott, Police Casualties in Ireland, (Cork and Dublin:
Mercier Press, zooo), 1z.
18. Military Court of Inquiry (Thomas Halpin), Feb. 1z1 (TNA, PRO, WO
/11A); Military Court of Inquiry (James Moran), 1o Feb 1z1 (ibid., 1A); Man-
chester Guardian, 1o Feb. 1z1, ;; The Times, 1o Feb. 1z1, 11.
1. Abbott, Police Casualties, 1.
The police authorities took the two threatening letters in the How-
ard case very seriously. County Inspector H. M. Lowndes suggested
that the Pearson brothers be transferred to a distant station, and that
both witnesses be placed in protective custody: I feel certain that the
threat to murder them will be carried out, he wrote.
20
The divisional
commissioner for Meath, Dublin, and Wicklow, Major W. T. Rigg, re-
ported that the two witnesses had gone to Dublin, and recommended
sending them to the training camp of the Ulster Special Constabu-
lary at Newtownards in County Down.
21
Deputy Inspector General
Walsh told his subordinates to take whatever steps are necessary
for the present protection of the witnesses and ordered the com-
mandant at Gormanston both to trace the writer of the letters and to
transfer the Pearson brothers to some distant county where recruits
are wanted.
22

The Gormanston commandant reported back that Constable
Pearson had only one brother in the RIC, a sergeant; that a second
brother had come to Ireland from England after hearing of Constable
Pearsons arrest; and that the two brothers had left for England on 18
FebruarySergeant Pearson was on leave for a week.
23
In the end,
however, District Inspector Scully was able to calm the situation. On
z6 February he reported that Mary Cannon had left the district at his
own suggestion. It is extremely difcult to get in touch with Cluskey,
he admitted, but I am having vigilant watch kept for him, & when [he
is] located, the suggestions for his safety will be put before him. In the
meantime I do not think he is in grave danger as, since the local police
cannot nd him, it is scarcely likely strangers will nd him.
24
Meanwhile, the military court of inquiry had reassembled on
zo. Lowndes to W. T. Rigg, zz Feb. 1z1 (TNA, PRO, HO 1/8).
z1. Rigg to Lowndes and V. W. Scully, zz Feb. 1z1 (ibid.).
zz. Walsh to Rigg, zz Feb. 1z1; Walsh to Davies, zz Feb. 1z1 (ibid.).
z. Davies to Ofcer Commanding Motor Transport Division [OCMTD], z
Feb. 1z1; OCMTD to Davies, zz [sic] Feb. 1z1; Davies to Scully, z( Feb. 1z1;
Scully to Walsh, z( Feb. 1z1 (ibid.). According to a letter from his brother, Sergeant
Pearson was conned to camp for two weeks & then drafted to Waterford. See
Thomas Pearson to Sir Hamar Greenwood, 16 Mar. 1z1 (ibid.).
z(. Scully to Lowndes, z6 Feb. 1z1 (ibid.). Divisional Commissioner Rigg later
reported that Cluskey has now returned to Balscadden but refuses to go to Newtown-
ards, so if he comes to grief, it will be his own lookout. I hardly think this is likely to
happen as he is probably sleeping away from home, & the local police nd it difcult to
locate him, as would also anyone who would try to do him harm. See Rigg to Walsh,
zz February at Mountjoy Prison in the hearing and presence of the
men who are alleged to have committed an offence.
25
The evidence
was read out, and new evidence taken. District Inspector Scully testi-
ed that an identication parade had been held at Gormanston camp
ve days earlier. At this parade both Mary Cannon and Peter Cluskey
had identied Smith and Pearson as the parties responsible.
26
Can-
non herself conrmed that she had picked out the two men now
before the court, and further testied that she had earlier seen both
men in the bar. It was George Pearson, she declared, who had en-
tered the bar with a revolver in his hand and a handkerchief over his
face and who had shot Patrick Howard.
27
Both Smith and Pearson declined to cross-examine the witnesses
or to make any statement whatsoever. In its opinion, delivered on
z February, the court of inquiry concluded that the deceased . . .
died at the Mater Misericordiae Hospital, Dublin, on the thirteenth
day of February, 1z1, of shock and peritonitis, following gunshot
wounds inicted by George Stuart Pearson of Balbriggan district,
who is guilty of wilful murder.
28
As the convening authority, Major
General G. F. Boyd concurred in the courts opinion and added that
Constable Smith should be tried as an accessory before the fact.
29
The authorities continued to gather information. Mary Cannon
gave a full deposition on the same day. Soon thereafter Peter Cluskey
and six other witnesses in the case gave depositions in front of a resi-
dent magistrate (RM) at the RIC depot in Phoenix Park, Dublin.
30
A
civilian, Robert Byrne, had seen the shooting but could not identify
the shooter. A police witness, Constable Edward Roberts, had not
seen the shooting but was able to conrm that Constable Smith and
a companion had come to Landys public house earlier that day.
31

z8 Feb. 1z1 (ibid.). Walsh concurred: Everything that can be done has been done to
protect these witnesses. See Walsh to Undersecretary, z8 Feb. 1z1 (ibid.).
z. Note, MCI (PH), z Feb. 1z1 (ibid.).
z6. Sixth Witness (V.W. Scully), MCI (PH), z Feb. 1z1 (ibid.).
z;. First Witness (Mary Cannon) Recalled, MCI (PH), z Feb. 1z1 (ibid.).
z8. Opinion, MCI (PH), z Feb. 1z1 (ibid.).
z. Opinion of Convening Authority, MCI (PH), z Feb. 1z1 (ibid.).
o. Summary of Evidence in the Case of the King vs. George Smith & George
Pearson, Charged with the Murder of Patrick Howard, Mar. 1z1 (ibid.).
1. Roberts later conrmed that Smiths companion had been Pearson. See
Statement of Henry Edward Roberts, undated (ibid.).
A troubling detail emerged from Mary Cannons deposition. When
cross-examined by Constable Smith, the girl admitted that she had
recognized only one of the two accused at rst; she had identied the
other only after taking a second look.
32
In his own deposition District
Inspector Scully conrmed that the rst man whom Mary Cannon
had identied had been Smith, and that the second had been Pear-
sonthe alleged shooter.
33

Doubts were then voiced after both constables were returned for
trial by court-martial on the charge of murder.
34
At Dublin Castle,
Deputy Inspector General Walsh submitted the depositions to the
undersecretarys ofce on ; March, but he noted: There appears
to be no evidence against Smith.
35
In a le minute three days later,
Assistant Undersecretary Mark Sturgis agreed. I do not understand
on what evidence the RM returned Smith for trial, Sturgis wrote. I
can see no evidence against him. True, he was with Pearson shortly
before Pearson is alleged to have committed this murder. But we can-
not without some evidence impute guilt to a man.
36

Then, on 1z March, the court-martial ofcer in charge of preparing
the case, Lieutenant C. Wedgwood, penned a rather startling letter to
his superior. In Wedgwoods opinion Constable Pearson was quite
innocentthe police had arrested the wrong man for the shooting.
Constable Pearson was reportedly in camp when the crime was com-
mitted. The true culprit was another man who looked like Pearsona
Black and Tan whose name was James Henry Featherstone. Feather-
stone was the man who had come to Landys public house with Smith
on the afternoon and evening of 1z February, who had returned later
with a handkerchief over his face and a revolver in his hand, and who
had shot Patrick Howard and robbed the till. Soon after the robbery
Mary Cannon had even identied Featherstone as the culprit. Wedg-
wood added other signicant details in his letter to RIC headquarters:
About 1(th or 1th February in a house in BalscaddenI can ascer-
tain the name of the occupierMary Cannon was in a room with
z. Deposition of Mary Cannon, z Feb. 1z1, ff. ( (ibid.).
. Deposition of V. W. Scully, Mar. 1z1 (ibid.).
(. Further Report of Outrage (Murder), ( Mar. 1z1 (ibid.).
. Walsh to Undersecretary, ; Mar. 1z1 (ibid.).
6. Mark Sturgis to H. Toppin, 1o Mar. 1z1 (ibid.).
other civilians and Featherstone. She pointed at Featherstone and
said, That is the man who shot Patrick Howard.
Featherstone denied it and said that Pearson had done it and that
he could prove it. Later on, I am of opinion that Featherstone threat-
ened Mary Cannon and made her promise to identify Pearson as the
man who had committed the murder.
On the identication parade on 18th February, Mary Cannon
stopped in front of Featherstone but passed without pointing him
out. She passed Pearson also but identied Smith. Later on, she was
taken round again and then she identied Pearson.
Featherstone and Pearson have light hair, but the latter is taller
and thinner than the former. Featherstone is a bad hat and was
made to resign from the R.I.C. He was escorted to the boat and sent
over to England.
Lastly, Wedgwood had learned from the provost sergeant at Gor-
manston that Smith and Featherstone had been overheard arguing
about the robbery at the pub. Smith and Featherstone were talk-
ing together, and Smith was upbraiding Featherstone, Wedgwood
reported. Featherstone said that he had the wind up at the time
and wanted to make sure of getting the money, so he shot Howard.
Wedgwood conceded, however, that the provost sergeant had heard
this account from another man, whose name the sergeant refused
to disclose.
37
Wedgwoods intervention contributed to an extension
of the investigation. On 18 March the deputy adjutant general for-
warded Wedgwoods letter to the ofce of the undersecretary at Dub-
lin Castle, along with copies of the depositions in the case and the
proceedings of the military court of inquiry, and recommended that
further investigations should be made before this case is proceeded
with, and the taking of the depositions completed.
38
Orders to this effect were sent to Deputy Inspector General Walsh
and from him to Divisional Commissioner Rigg.
39
Rigg investigated
the case personally and reported back to his superiors on z March.
It was true, he said, that Featherstone was a former member of the
RIC. The Black and Tan had resigned from the force in early De-
cember of the previous year. After his resignation Featherstone and
;. Lieut. C. Wedgwood to Lieut.-Col. E. H. Chapman, 1z Mar. 1z1 (ibid.).
8. Deputy Adjutant General to Undersecretary, 18 Mar. 1z1 (ibid.).
. Toppin to Walsh, 1 Mar. 1z1; Walsh to Rigg, zo Mar. 1z1 (ibid.).
his wife had lived in a three-room cottage near Gormanston (the Ivy
Cottage) that they shared with another married couple, Clive and
Hilda Peters. (Like Pearson, Smith, and Featherstone, Clive Peters
was a Black and Tana motor driver stationed at Gormanston.) And
it was true that the Featherstones had both returned to England.
But Rigg was convinced that Wedgwoods theory was mistaken. That
conviction was based on what Rigg had learned from the provost
sergeant at Gormanston camp, whose name was ONeill: He tells
me, reported Rigg, that Lieut. Wedgwood has got the names wrong
in his report of 1zth inst[ant]. What he told Lieut. Wedgwood was
that Smith & Featherstone were talking together & Featherstone up-
braided Smith for killing Howard. Smith said that he had the wind up
at the time & wanted to make sure that he got the money & so shot
Howard. Sergeant ONeills informants were Featherstone himself
and his wife. Rigg further informed Walsh:
As a result of my investigation I feel sure that Pearson & Smith were
the two constables who were concerned in this shooting. Feather-
stone was not there. He undoubtedly went to Balbriggan with Mrs.
Featherstone & Mrs. Peters on the evening of 1zth & was there when
the shooting occurred. Sergt. ONeill tells me that quite a number of
men in Gormanston saw Featherstone in Balbriggan that evening.
Besides, he was not in uniform during the day & had none, though of
course he could have borrowed it from Peters. Featherstone & Pear-
son are not alike in appearance.
Nevertheless, Lieutenant Wedgwoods error had been a fruitful
one. Rigg was sure that Featherstone had been involved in the rob-
bery. Recall Mary Cannons testimonythat Pearson and Smith had
visited Landys public house on the afternoon of 1z February, ac-
companied by a third man in civilian clothes. Rigg identied Feath-
erstone as that third man:
I am of opinion that Featherstone & Smith hatched the robbery, &
Featherstone went to Balbriggan as he was living near & would have
been well known. Smith & Pearson, the latter of whom was more or
less a tool, carried out the job, & Smith left the dirty work to Pear-
son. Pearson went in expecting everyone would hold up their hands
on seeing the revolver, & when Howard tried to escape, he lost his
head & started shooting. I feel certain that Smith & Pearson were the
two men concerned; the only possible doubt is as to which of them
did the shooting, but the evidence of Miss Cannon & Cluskey seems
conclusive & I see no reason to doubt it.
40
Riggs report was forwarded to the undersecretarys ofce but was
then returned with a request for additional information.
41
Ten days
passed while Rigg tried to locate Mary Cannon.
42
When she was nal-
ly found, she informed Rigg that Featherstone had been the man in ci-
vilian clothes, but she insisted that never at anytime had she stated
that Featherstone had shot Howard.
43
Moreover, Rigg had obtained
a statement from Mrs. Peters, who attested that Pearson, Smith, and
Featherstone had gone to Balscadden together on the afternoon of
1z February. She also conrmed that Pearson and Smith had re-
turned to Balscadden that evening, after asking if they could spend
the night at the Ivy Cottage. In a few minutes after Smith & Pearson
left, she said, Mr. Fe[a]therstone said to Mrs. Fe[a]therstone & I,
we had better clear out of it, Smith & Pearson have gone to Balscad-
den to raid the pub & I dont want to be brought into it. Though she
was not present herself, Mrs. Peters claimed in her statement that the
murder had occurred in the following way: Smith stood in the door
& Pearson went in & red shots. The rst shot was red into the
oor, and then Howard threw himself on the ground at Pearsons feet
and tried to knock Pearson down; then Pearson said the next shot is
for you, you Irish bastard, & he red two shots at Howard & shot him
in the kidneys; they then returned to the Ivy Cottage but could not get
in, & they went back to the [Gormanston] camp.
44
On ; April the undersecretarys ofce directed Deputy Inspector
General Walsh to have the police check Featherstones alibi with a
Black and Tan constable named Russell Martingell, who had met
(o. Rigg to Walsh, z Mar. 1z1 (ibid.). This document is dated z February
1z1 but clearly refers back to Riggs message of zo March 1z1.
(1. Walsh to Toppin, z Mar. 1z1 [also wrongly dated z Feb. 1z1]. It is now I
think quite clear, Walsh stated, that it was Pearson and not Featherstone (who by the
way was in plain clothes & was out of the police at the time) who red the fatal shot
(ibid.). See also Toppin to Walsh, z( Mar. 1z1; Walsh to Rigg, z( Mar. 1z1 (ibid.).
(z. Rigg may have been preoccupied with more pressing matters. The IRA am-
bushed a small RIC cycle patrol at Ballyfermot, Co. Dublin, on o March 1z1; Head
Constable Edward Mulrooney and Sergeant Michael Hallissy were killed. See Ab-
bott, Police Casualties, z16.
(. Rigg to Walsh, ( Apr. 1z1 (TNA, PRO, HO 1/8).
((. Statement of Mrs. Hilda Peter, o Mar. 1z1 (ibid.).
Mrs. Peters in Balbriggan on the night of the crime and had been
mentioned in her statement. Martingell was asked to conrm that
Featherstone had been in Balbriggan when Landys public house in
Balscadden was robbed and Patrick Howard was fatally shot.
45
In-
terestingly, Martingells own statement cleared Featherstone of the
shooting while implicating him further in the robbery. Martingell re-
lated a conversation that had taken place after he and Featherstone
had returned to sleep at Ivy Cottage after drinking together in a Bal-
briggan pub on the night of the robbery and murder in Balscadden:
Fe[a]therstone . . . told me that Constable Smith & his chum were
going to hold up a public house in Balscadden, & said, We were
all there this afternoon having a look around; we came back here
& had tea, & Smiths pal went back to camp to get his revolver; he
came back with the revolver, & he & Smith set off in the direction
of Balscadden, & they promised me o-o of the proceeds. I did not
want to be here when they came back, so that is the reason I went to
Balbriggan; I am jolly glad that I ran into you so that I can prove I
was not there.
46
On 11 April the undersecretarys ofce nally responded to the dep-
uty adjutant generals minute of some four weeks earlier. Riggs inqui-
ries had revealed that Lieutenant Wedgwoods theory of the case was
incorrect. Wedgwoods letter of 1z March was refuted point by point.
There was enough evidence to put Constable Pearson on trial for his
life. Unfortunately, the case against Constable Smith was weak. While
it was likely that Smith had been involved, there was still no evidence
against him. Admittedly, according to Mrs. Featherstone, Smith had
confessed to ring the fatal shot, but this was simply hearsay, whereas
Cannon and Cluskey had identied Pearson as the shooter. Neverthe-
less, Dublin Castle ofcials issued instructions that both Smith and
Pearson be referred to the military for trial by court-martial.
47

(. Toppin to Walsh, ; Apr. 1z1 (ibid.).
(6. Statement of Constable Russell George Martingell, 11 Apr. 1z1 (ibid.).
Another constable conrmed that he and Martingell had been drinking in a public
house at Balbriggan that night with two women and a man he did not know. See
Statement of Constable Thomas McGlynn, 1z Apr. 1z1 (ibid.).
(;. Toppin to Deputy Adjutant General [DAG], RIC Deputy Inspector General,
Chief Crown Solicitor, and Chief of Police, 11 Apr. 1z1; Note on Lieut. Wedgwoods
Statement (ibid.).
The armys deputy adjutant general, however, declined to proceed
until evidence had been obtained from Featherstone.
48
The police
were ordered to make further inquiries, and though they apparently
complied, the case appears to have stalled for more than a month.
On 1z May the undersecretarys ofce informed the deputy adjutant
general that Featherstone has not yet been traced, but further ef-
forts are being made.
49
Twelve days later, Dublin Castle went so far
as to contact Sir Basil Thomson, director of intelligence at the Home
Ofce and head of the Criminal Investigation Department of Lon-
dons Metropolitan Police, to determine if there was any prospect
of tracing Featherstone. Nor was this the rst time that the Castle
had requested such help from Scotland Yard. The RIC inspector
general himself had previously requested Thomsons help in track-
ing down Featherstone.
50
The mystery of Featherstones whereabouts
was solved, however, when the former Black and Tan was arrested
in Deptford on a warrant for arrears on a bastardy order, or, as we
would now say, an order for child-support payments. He appeared at
East Ham police court on z May and was sentenced to 1 days im-
prisonment in Brixton Prison.
51
Sir Basil Thomson immediately sent
the good news to Dublin Castle but warned that Featherstone might
yet slip through their ngers. As there is a possibility that he may pay
the arrears under the order, he wrote, I should be glad if you would
inform me early about what steps you desire taken.
52

At this point the wheels of the British judicial system in Ireland -
nally began to grind forward once more. The date of Smith and Pear-
sons trial was nally set: the two men would be tried for Howards
murder by court-martial in Dublin City Hall on 1 June.
53
Two oth-
er police constables were also scheduled to face a court-martial for
murder that same day. Like Smith and Pearson, they were accused
(8. Lieut.-Col. Chapman (for DAG) to Undersecretary, 1 Apr. 1z1 (ibid.).
(. Toppin to DAG, 1z May 1z1 (ibid.).
o. G. G. Whiskard to Sir Basil Thomson, z( May 1z1 (ibid.).
1. Constable J. Petherick to Divisional Detective Inspector, z( May 1z1; Min-
ute Sheet, East Ham Station, K Division, Metropolitan Police, z6 May 1z1; Com-
missioner of Police, London, to Scully, z; May 1z1 (ibid.).
z. Thomson to Walsh, z6 May 1z1 (ibid.).
. Lieut.-Col. H. D. Foster MacGeagh to General Ofcer Commanding-in-
Chief, Ireland, z6 May 1z1; DAG to GHQ Ireland, o May 1z1; DAG to Under-
secretary, o May 1z1 (ibid.); Charge Sheet, undated (ibid.).
of shooting a man dead while committing a robbery.
54
In preparation
for the trial of Smith and Pearson, James Featherstone was trans-
ferred to Mountjoy Prison,
55
where he nally made a statement at
the beginning of June in the presence of Lieutenant Wedgwood and
the two accused constables. Featherstone corroborated his wifes ear-
lier statement while doing his best to exonerate himself. He admit-
ted that he had indeed accompanied Smith and Pearson to Landys
public house in Balscadden on the afternoon of 1z February, but he
claimed ignorance of Smith and Pearsons malevolent intentions un-
til the group had returned to Ivy Cottage. Featherstone then offered
his version of what had transpired there:
As they were leaving, at the front door Smith said to me, We are go-
ing to Balscadden. I said to him, What for? Smith replied, We are
going to raid the pub; can we come back here later to-night? They
then left, and shortly afterwards I went with my wife and friend to
Balbriggan.
On the next day, Sunday, I saw Smith about 1.oo. I saw Smith
at Gormanstown camp. I said to Smith, You went up there [to Bals-
cadden] last night. He said, Yes. I said, Youve done a ne thing.
Do you know that man is dead? He said, Yes. We only got 1. I
had 6 and Pearson had ;. We will give you z to-morrow. Smith
then told me what happened in Landys public house the previous
night. I said to Smith, What made you shoot him? Smith replied,
When we rushed in to the public house, Pearson said, Hands up,
and I stood just inside the door. A man started to run to get out of
the public house and Pearson shot him. He didnt stop moaning, so
he shot him again. He almost dropped on his knees at his (Pearsons)
feet. The handkerchief almost fell off Pearsons face once.
56
In light of this new evidence it was decided to charge both Smith
and Pearson with robbery and receiving stolen goods, as well as mur-
der, with an alternative charge of manslaughter.
57
The two constables
(. On this case, see D. M. Leeson, The Black and Tans: British Police and Auxilia-
ries in the Irish War of Independence, (Oxford: Oxford University Press, zo11),
zoozoz.
. Whiskard to Sir Basil Thomson, z May 1z1; Toppin to Walsh and Chief
Commissioner, Dublin Metropolitan Police, 1 May 1z1 (TNA, PRO, HO 1/8).
6. Further Summary of Evidence in the Case of George Stewart Pearson and
George Smith, Constables, R.I.C., June 1z1 (ibid.).
;. Toppin to DAG and Wedgwood, June 1z1 (ibid.). The authorities were still
concerned that Featherstone might pay the arrears for which he had been commit-
were tried by court-martial on 116 June.
58
Smith was acquitted while
Pearson was convicted of murder and sentenced to death.
59
In his re-
port Judge Advocate P. Sutherland Graeme explained this decision:
As Judge Advocate, I felt it to be my duty to advise the court that as
the case against Smith rested almost entirely on the evidence of a wit-
ness of bad character, one Featherstone, it would not be safe for the
court to nd him guilty of murder; moreover, there was every ground
for believing that Featherstone was deeply implicated in the robbery
in the course of which the murder was committed.
There was in my opinion ample evidence upon which the court
could nd Pearson guilty of murder, and he was the man who red
the fatal shot. I feel it, however, to be my duty to say that the court
was not unanimous in their nding. Moreover, there was every rea-
son for thinking that Smith and probably Featherstone were equally
guilty with Pearson.
60
In my book I discuss a number of cases of police crime during
the War of Independence. More than 1,1o British recruits joined
the RIC in October 1zo alone. At least eleven of these men were
subsequently dismissed from the force after having been convicted of
criminal offenses, including housebreaking and armed robbery. Ten
of them are mentioned in the book. The eleventh was George Pear-
son. Though unusually tall for a Black and Tan (six feet, in fact), he
was a typical British recruit overall. Born in 18;, he was a Protestant
and a bachelor from Londonan ex-soldier who had also worked
as a motor driver. He joined the RIC on 1 October 1zo and was
posted to County Wicklow early in November, after less than three
weeks of police training. Then, a month later, he was re-posted to the
Dublin depot. Otherwise, the RIC General Register mentions only
ted, go free, and disappear once again. On ; June, Toppin asked the deputy attorney
general for a warrant to compel Featherstones appearance at the court-martial under
the regulations of the Restoration of Order in Ireland Act.
8. The proceedings run for more than two hundred pages: General Court-
Martial, 16th June 1z1, upon the Trial of GEORGE SMITH and GEORGE S.
PEARSON, Royal Irish Constabulary, Shorthand Notes (ibid.). These proceedings
will hereafter be cited as Court-Martial (Smith and Pearson).
. Extracted from the Proceedings of a General Court-Martial Held at Dublin
on the 1th and 16th June 1z1 for the Trial of George Smith and George Stewart
Pearson, Constables, Royal Irish Constabulary (ibid.).
6o. R v. Pearson, RIC, 16 June 1z1 (ibid.).
that Pearson was dismissed from the force on 1; February 1z1the
date of his arrest. The fact that he was later convicted of murder was
not recorded.
61

Like George Pearson himself, the murder of Patrick Howard was
quite ordinary in many ways. It was not the result of a reprisal. Police
and Auxiliaries were almost never prosecuted for extrajudicial kill-
ings. Recall that two men had been assassinated in Drogheda, Co.
Louth, on the night of 8 February 1z1just four days before
Patrick Howard was fatally shot in Balscadden, Co. Dublin. Though
military courts of inquiry were held in both cases, there is no record
of any subsequent police investigation of the Drogheda murders. Re-
call as well that other Black and Tans were tried by court-martial
for murder in Dublin that June. Some six months earlier, Temporary
Constables J. H. Cockburn and John Reive had fatally shot James
Whelan after invading his home at Ballyroan in Queens County. On
18 June 1z1 both men were found guilty of murder and sentenced
to death, though their sentences were subsequently reduced to life
imprisonment. Reive later told the chaplain at Dartmoor Prison that
the attack on Whelan had been a reprisal, not a robbery:
Shortly before the occurrence, a police barrack had been raided and
burned. The men knew that the man, for the murder of whom these
two are undergoing sentence, was one of the party who did it, and
was seen dancing in the street as the barrack went up in ame. They
decided to give him reprisal. There were others to go with them; but
at the last moment they did not turn up, and Cockburn and Reive
went in alone. They protest that they had no intention to commit
murder, only to raid and scare him.
62
Reive was clearly hoping that the authorities would take a more
lenient view of his offense if it had been a reprisal rather than a rob-
61. Constable ;(8;, RIC General Register (TNA, PRO, HO 18(/8). When
asked about their service in the RIC, Walsh wrote that the commandant of Gormans-
town [sic] informs me that both Constable Pearson and Constable Smith have borne
excellent characters. See Court-Martial (Smith and Pearson), 16 June 1z1, f.
(TNA, PRO, HO 1/8).
6z. J.C. Johnston to Home Secretary Edward Shortt, Jan. 1zz (TNA, PRO,
HO 1((/1;61/(z6). At the military court of inquiry into James Whelans death,
three witnesses to the crime described how the two temporary constables had de-
manded money. See Military Court of Inquiry (James Whelan) (TNA, PRO, WO
/1B).
bery. But his hopes were probably misplaced, as suggested by a com-
parable set of events elsewhere in Ireland. On the night of 1(1 May
1z1 police in Salthill, Co. Galway, seized a young medical student
from his hotel room, beat him, shot him, and left him for dead. But
their victim, John Green, survived and swore out a complaint. Con-
sequently, as in the case of Patrick Howards murder, the shooting of
John Green was investigated by both the RIC county inspector and
the divisional commissioner. Ultimately, two Black and Tans were
sentenced to prison for fteen years for this attempted murder, which
was clearly meant as a reprisal.
63

As these and other cases show, the identity of the victim was an im-
portant consideration as well. Patrick Howard was not involved in the
struggle for national independence. As previously noted, both Peter
Cluskey and Thomas Howard told the military court of inquiry that
Patrick Howard was not a member of any organization. This cir-
cumstance was consistent with a general pattern. While police were
almost never prosecuted for crimes against revolutionaries or politi-
cal activists, they were prosecuted for crimes against ordinary people.
John Green, for example, was friendly with the police, and there is
no evidence that James Whelan was a Volunteer. The two men mur-
dered in Drogheda, by contrast, had both been republican activists.
Thomas Halpin was a Sinn Fin alderman. John Moran was a Volun-
teer from Wexford who had been interned after taking part in the oc-
cupation of Enniscorthy during the 116 Rising. The police investiga-
tion of their deaths ended with the court of inquiry.
64
Thomas Hand,
murdered at Skerries in December 1zo, had also been a Volunteer;
he had been interned for taking part in the attack on Ashbourne RIC
barracks in 116. Once again, though two witnesses testied at the
military court of inquiry that Hand had been shot by men dressed
in police uniform, the investigation was perfunctory. An anonymous
police witness stationed at Balbriggan (probably District Inspector
Scully) testied that he had learned of Hands death by reading the
6. Leeson, Black and Tans, zoz.
6(. In October 1zo notices had been posted in Drogheda threatening reprisals
for attacks on the police. DROGHEDA BEWARE, the notices read. If in the vi-
cinity a policeman is shot, ve leading Sinn Feiners will be shot (quoted in Rich-
ard Bennett, The Black and Tans [rst published London, 1; new ed., New York:
Barnes and Noble Books, 1], 8).
newspaper. He had checked the scene, nding no signs of shots or a
struggle, and had made inquiries in the vicinity without result. All he
could say was that there had been no police patrol in the neighbor-
hood on the night in question.
65

This brings us to a third factor that inuenced who was prosecut-
ed: the identities of the perpetrators. When police were prosecuted
for crimes against civilians, the perpetrators were generally strang-
ers to the district where the crime was committed. Two days before
Christmas in 1zo, for example, a gang of men in police uniform
robbed a bank in Strokestown, Co. Roscommon. The manager of the
bank escaped and went to the local police, who quickly determined
that the perpetrators were Black and Tans from Longford town; an
RIC sergeant had come from Longford to Strokestown to testify in
a court case, and the bank robbers were members of his escort.
66

Similarly, the two temporary constables who shot James Whelan in
Queens County had been stationed in the district only for a couple
of days, temporarily.
This was also the case with Pearson and Smith in County Dublin.
In his summary of the evidence against the two constables, District
Inspector Scully indicated that both men were of no local impor-
tance, and that their RIC character was not known.
67
Interest-
ingly, Scully also knew very little about Featherstone or Peters. At the
court-martial of Pearson and Smith, when he was questioned about
Featherstone, Scully replied: I could not tell you that, sir; he is not in
my area, you see.
68
Then, when asked a few questions about Peters,
Scully could say only that his character was bad: He was always
drunk, chiey; that was his drawback. When pressed further, Scully
responded: I do not know; he was not one of my men. I belong to
Balbriggan station [and have] nothing to do with the Gormanstown
[sic] station.
69
Scully could not even say if Peterss hair was light or
dark: I do not know, he said; I do not remember ever seeing him.
70
6. Court of Inquiry (Thomas Hand), 8 Dec. 1zo (TNA, PRO, WO /11A).
66. Leeson, Black and Tans, 88(.
6;. V. W. Scully, Summary of Evidence in the Case of the King v. George Smith
& George Stewart Pearson, Charged with the Murder of Patrick Howard, Mar.
1z1 (TNA, PRO, HO 1/8).
68. Court-Martial (Smith and Pearson), 16 June 1z1, f. 1 (ibid.).
6. Ibid., f. (.
;o. Ibid., f. .
As Scullys testimony suggests, the institutional ability of the RIC
to police itself was quite limited: its gaze was directed outward, not
inward. Compare, for example, Scullys brief statements about Smith
and Pearson to the detailed evidence he gave at the military court of
inquiry into the death of IRA Volunteer Peter White:
From inquiries made, I have discovered that Peter White was an ac-
tive member of the I.R.A. He was never detected in any active en-
gagement but was suspected of having taken part in [the] murder [of]
Const. Green at Balbriggan, z-z-z1; [the] attempted murder of Sgt.
Kielty, Balbriggan, 1z-(-z1; and several raids for arms, &c. In docu-
ments captured recently, Whites name was found as showing him a
subscribing member of the I.R.A., the subscription going towards
the purchase of a revolver.
White, when a young lad, was very wild. When quite a boy, he
ran away from home and joined the army, from which he was sub-
sequently bought out by his mother. He never is known to have
done an honest days work, but kept himself alive by sponging on his
parents and picking pockets at race meetings. Naturally, the criminal
prospects offered by the I.R.A. proved a great temptation, and he
became a willing member.
71
The RIC had nothing like a police-complaints commission or
an internal-affairs bureau to investigate allegations against its own
members. Instead, this responsibility rested with its ofcersmen like
District Inspector Scully, Divisional Commissioner Rigg, and ultimate-
ly Deputy Inspector General Walsh. Curiously, the highest-ranking po-
lice ofcer in Ireland, the chief of police, Major General Henry Hugh
Tudor, seems hardly to have concerned himself with such matters,
despite being responsible for the recruitment of thousands of Black
and Tans and Auxiliaries. The surviving records of the chief of polices
ofce include an elaborate table of organization for O Department,
headed by the director of intelligence, Colonel Ormonde Winter. The
various branches of this department were dedicated to the detection
and investigation of plots against the constituted authority of the
realm and against the loyal subjects of the crown.
72
But there is no
;1. Statement of V. W. Scully, Military Court of Inquiry (Peter White), ; May
1z1 (TNA, PRO, WO /1B).
;z. Ofce of Chief of Police, O Department, Distribution of Staff and Duties
(TNA, PRO, HO 18(/;8).
record of any ofcial being given responsibility for internal investiga-
tions, and none of the ofcial correspondence in the Patrick Howard
le was addressed to General Tudor, except for information.
Indeed, around the same time that Patrick Howard was murdered,
the topic of police discipline came up in a conversation between
two senior civil servants: the deputy secretary to the British cabinet,
Thomas Jones, and the undersecretary for Ireland, Sir John Ander-
son. In a diary entry for 1 February 1z1, Jones threw a ood of light
on the resistance at the highest levels to tackling police indiscipline
in Ireland:
Over two months ago, Anderson had put up to [Chief Secretary]
Hamar Greenwood a proposal to set up a board to deal with disci-
pline in the police forces, but Hamar Greenwood had turned it down.
Anderson had then persuaded Tudor to set up a small board for the
same purpose, but Anderson was satised from information that con-
tinued to reach him that there were many serious breaches of disci-
pline. In private conversation Tudor would agree that steps ought to
be taken to deal with these, but Andersons advisers were satised
that he took another line when he met his men.
73
In addition, the RIC could offer very little of what would nowa-
days be called witness protection. And what little it did provide was
geared toward protecting witnesses from IRA retaliation, not RIC
reprisals. The standard procedure was apparently to send witnesses
to some place like the training camp of the Ulster Special Constabu-
lary at Newtownards. Once it was reported that both Mary Cannon
and Peter Cluskey had received threatening letters, County Inspec-
tor Lowndes recommended that they be sent at once, if willing to
go, to the camp at Gormanston or to the RIC depot [in Dublin] for
safety, as I feel certain the threat to murder them will be carried out.
This step would hardly have reassured witnesses in a case involving
police constables accused of murder, and as mentioned earlier, both
Cannon and Cluskey chose to go on the run instead. And this was
scarcely the only case in which police tried to interfere with such an
investigation by threatening witnesses. After the bank-robbing Black
and Tans from Longford had been arrested, someone wrote a letter
;. Thomas Jones, Whitehall Diary, vol. : Ireland, , ed. Keith Middle-
mas (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1;1), z.
to the manager of the bank at Strokestown, Co. Roscommon, threat-
ening to kill him unless he dropped the charges. The only protection
that RIC headquarters could afford in this case was a warning to the
district inspectors concerned that they would be held personally re-
sponsible for the managers safety.
74
Not surprisingly, many civilians were just as reluctant to give evi-
dence against the police as they were to do so against IRA insurgents.
Thomas Hands next of kin did not even report his murder to the au-
thorities. At the court of inquiry into this Volunteers death, an ofcer
of the Royal Army Medical Corps testied that he was unable to make
a complete examination of the bodyit was in a cofn, bandaged, and
four days dead. And while Hands family was willing to talk to army
personnel, they seem to have had nothing to say to District Inspector
Scully.
75
Witnesses were even more closemouthed in the case of Al-
derman Thomas Halpin and James Moran. Their next of kin refused
to give evidence at a closed military inquiry, though the president of
the court eventually persuaded them to identify the bodies.
76
A month
later, the mayor of Drogheda, Philip Monahan, wrote a letter to the
Irish Independent accusing the crown forces of covering up the killings.
77

The army tried to investigate further but with no result. The deputy
adjutant general criticized the ofcer commanding the Dublin district,
Major General Boyd, for not reassembling the court of inquiry: under
the Restoration of Order in Ireland Regulations, these courts had all
the powers of a coroners inquest, which includes the power to com-
mit to prison for contempt of court any person who refuses to give
evidence.
78
But in his nal report on the matter Boyd turned aside the
criticism: No further information can be obtained. Alderman Mona-
han and the other witnesses will certainly refuse to answer any ques-
tions except in public, and moreover, I should not personally attach
very much weight to any evidence they might give. For good measure
Boyd remarked: If this case is re-opened, I think that we shall be com-
;(. Leeson, Black and Tans, 88(.
;. Military Court of Inquiry (Thomas Hand), 8 Dec. 1zo (TNA, PRO, WO
/11A).
;6. Statement by Capt. E. W. Avenell, 1 Mar. 1z1; Major-Gen. Boyd to GHQ
Ireland, zz Mar. 1z1 (ibid.).
;;. News Clipping, Irish Independent, 1; Mar. 1z1 (ibid.).
;8. DAG to RIC Headquarters, Dublin District, 1 Apr. 1z1 (ibid.).
mitted to a trial of the alderman and some women for refusing to give
evidence, except in public, with the result that they will probably be
sent to prison, and good propaganda made out of this incident.
79

In light of all these facts it should hardly be a cause for surprise
that police who broke the law were caught only if they bungled the
job. George Pearson rst shot Patrick Howard, then unintentionally
let witnesses see his face before eeing the scene. The police who
robbed the bank in County Roscommon were apprehended with
their pockets full of banknotes; some were even caught spending the
stolen money in a nearby pub. In Queens County, Temporary Con-
stable J. H. Cockburn shot James Whelan with a police revolver that
he had stolen from his temporary station; he then left the murder
weapon behind at the scene. The two Black and Tans who shot John
Green in County Galway left him alive and able to lodge an informa-
tion. This was also what happened in a different case when a police-
man was prosecuted for a political killing. Captain William L. King,
the commander of F Company of the RIC Auxiliary Division, was
arrested in February 1z1 for the execution-style shooting of the
Dubliner James Murphy. Like the men who assaulted John Green
in Salthill, King had neglected to ensure that his victim was dead.
Though Murphy later died from his wounds, he lived long enough
to identify King as his killer. Yet this Auxiliary ofcer was eventually
acquitted of murdering Murphy, partly because the victims evidence
was ruled inadmissible and partly because two of Kings subordinates
were able to give him an alibi.
80

Though Patrick Howards killer was convicted, that case under-
lines the obstacles to catching and punishing policemen who had
broken the law. The case against George Pearson was hardly conclu-
sive. Though both Mary Cannon and Peter Cluskey had identied
Pearson, a third witness, Robert Byrne, had not.
81
And while Can-
non and Cluskey both agreed that Pearsons handkerchief mask had
slipped, exposing his face, Byrne testied at the court-martial that
;. Boyd to GHQ, z8 Apr. 1z1 (ibid.). A note on this report reads: Seen by
chief, who says no further action.
8o. Leeson, Black and Tans, 1886.
81. Deposition of Robert Byrne, Mar. 1z1 (TNA, PRO, HO 1/8). When
cross-examined, Byrne also admitted that he had not seen Smith in the pub that
night.
the man who had robbed Landys pub and shot Howard had kept a
handkerchief over his face the whole time.
82

Pearsons defense counsel was quick to point out other problems
with Cannon and Cluskeys testimony as well. At the identication
parade held at Gormanston camp in mid-February 1z1, Mary Can-
non had at rst identied Smith but not Pearsoneven though Smith
was not in the pub when the crime took place. As previously noted,
Cannon had identied Pearson only after a second look. In fact, it
is possible that the identication parade was conducted improperly,
and that Cannon and Cluskey were led to identify Smith and Pear-
son. In his deposition, given early in March of that year, Cluskey
had said: At Gormanston in or about twenty men were put in a line
before me, and I was asked to identify the prisoners. I mean I was
then asked to identify the two men who were in the public house the
Saturday night previous, the night of the shooting.
83
This phrasing
may simply have represented a slip of the tongue, but Mary Cannon
said something equally suggestive at the court-martial in mid-June.
For some reason, ex-constable Featherstone had been put back in
uniform and placed on parade before Cannon and Cluskey. When
Cannon was asked if she had seen Featherstone that day, she replied:
Well, I did not want to see Featherstone among them.
84
Pearson
was also dressed differently from the other men on parade that day:
unlike the rest, he wore a belt with his tunic, and puttees with his
trousers. Lastly, in a letter to the attorney general, George Pearsons
brother, Thomas, came right out and accused District Inspector
Scully of having led the witnesses at the parade. The district in-
spector in charge of the identication parade, he wrote indignantly,
stood directly in front of my brother, nodding his head obviously in
Pearsons direction, said to Miss Cannon, Go on, have a good look,
he is here; you will nd your man; she then identied my brother.
85
8z. Court-Martial (Smith and Pearson), 1 June 1z1, ff. 8(86 (ibid.).
8. Deposition of Peter Cluskey, Mar. 1z1 (ibid.).
8(. Court-Martial (Smith and Pearson), 1 June 1z1, f. z (ibid.). This passage
has been underlined with a colored pencil; three exclamation points stand in the mar-
gin. Nor was this a mistake, as her subsequent testimony makes clear: Q. But you did
not see him? A. He might have been there. I did not want to see him. Q. You did not
want to see him? A. No.
8. Thomas Pearson to Attorney General Sir Denis Henry, z8 June 1z1, f. z
(ibid.).
Thomas Pearson, of course, had not been present at the identi-
cation parade. He did not specify the source of his information,
but it was probably his other brother, an RIC sergeant stationed at
Gormanston. And of course neither man was disinterested in this
case. Indeed, to judge from the correspondence preserved in the
le, Thomas Pearson was convinced of his brothers innocence and
worked hard to get George Pearson acquitted, to have his conviction
overturned, and nally to get his sentence commuted. He even enlist-
ed the help of George Smith, who wrote letters on George Pearsons
behalf. And in this persistent effort to exonerate his brother, Thomas
Pearson went so far as to claim that Peter Cluskey had changed his
story under pressure from the IRA:
Our solicitors Messrs. Gerald Byrne & Co. and counsel discovered
that the Sinn Fein organisation had gained access to the witnesses
for the defence and prosecution, and had threatened them (especially
the crown witness, Mr. Clusky). Mr. Clusky is a prominent member
of the I.R.A., and he was informed that as a member of the I.R.A.
he would be violating one of their most stringent laws if he gave evi-
dence for the crown, and thereby recognising a British court. If, on
the other hand, one or both of the accused were convicted, he, Mr.
Clusky, would be exonerated; but if both of the accused were acquit-
ted, he would have to answer to the I.R.A. Being thus threatened,
Mr. Clusky altered his statement to coincide with Miss Cannons
evidence, namely, that the handkerchief fell from the face of the man
who shot Patrick Howard. This was absolutely contrary to the four
previous statements he had given to the military.
86
These claims should not be dismissed out of hand. Cluskey did
not mention that the handkerchief had fallen from the shooters face
at either the court of inquiry into Patrick Howards death or in his de-
position of March 1z1. And one reason why the traditional coro-
ners inquest into every death had been suspended by the Restoration
86. Ibid. Pearson also claimed that other Irish witnesses had been intimidated
by Sinn Fein, hence, we did not produce them because we knew they intended to give
false evidence to help convict the accused. In a letter to the chief secretary, George
Smith complained of the very imsy evidence offered by the crown & [by] two rank
Sinn Feiners who would not care how they perjure themselves so as they could get
a conviction against the Black and Tans. See Smith to Greenwood, z6 June 1z1
(ibid.).
of Order in Ireland Act was to protect the police from politically mo-
tivated prosecutions. But that Thomas Pearsons charges were valid
seems unlikely.
The letters of Thomas Pearson, however, do help us ll in one of
the many blanks in this case. Recall that there was a two-day gap in
the le between 1 and 1; February 1z1in other words, between
the date of the rst session of the military court of inquiry and the
date of the identication parade at Gormanston. Recall as well that
there was no indication of how suspicion fell on Smith and Pear-
son until Lieutenant Wedgwood voiced his concerns on 1z March
1z1 that the police had arrested the wrong man. In fact, it seems
clear that Pearson and Smith came under suspicion for Howards
murder only because Featherstone lost his nerve and informed on
both of them in order to save himself. What made Featherstone turn
informer? At the court-martial of Smith and Pearson the counsel
for the defense had promised in his opening statement to produce
a witness who, among other things, would perhaps give some little
insight as to what the general idea of the locality is about the iden-
tity of the culprits. This witness, a local shopkeeper named Annie
Morgan, fell ill with tonsillitis, which prevented her from testify-
ing, but she had provided a written statement beforehand. After
some discussion at the court-martial and over objection from the
prosecution counsel, Judge Advocate Graeme began to read out her
statement:
I keep a shop at Gormanston. It is situated on the road leading to the
camp and is the next house to the camp gate, a few hundred yards
away from the gate. I sell butter, eggs, bacon, and suchlike things. I
supply these goods to a great number of men at the camp. I remem-
ber . . . hearing the next morning after the murder of Mr. Howard
what had occurred, and I afterwards heard that two men had been ar-
rested. I remember on the Saturday night a number of men had been
in, getting butter, eggs, and bacon on their way back to the camp. I
believe I could identify the two accused if I saw them as having been
in my shop that night on their way back to the camp, somewhere be-
tween 8:o and oclock. I know Featherstone and Peters[at this
point the judge advocate paused and said to the prosecution counsel,
I see now why you referred to it; I did not know it was in this state-
ment] . . . that it was common talk round the district . . . that Feath-
erstone and Peters were the parties that had killed Howard. [Pausing
again, the judge advocate conceded his mistake: I had no idea we
were being led to this. I think that is as far as the statement ought to
be read.]
87
Featherstone, it seems, had a bad reputation around Gormanston.
He had resigned from the RIC after being punished for stealing from
his police comrades, and had been reported for poaching as well,
though he denied having done either. He also denied having heard
any rumors that he was involved in the robbery that led to the shoot-
ing of Patrick Howard.
88
But in his letters on his brothers behalf,
Thomas Pearson claimed to have overheard Featherstone talking in a
public house on the morning of 1; February 1z1, after the identi-
cation parade at Gormanston camp. According to Thomas Pearsons
account, Featherstone gave this explanation of why he had gone to
the police after the shooting: Well, everybody was saying that I had
shot this man Howard, everywhere I went I heard it, so on Sunday
night I went to the police and told them Smith and Pearson shot
Howard; and they were arrested the next day.
89
Thus the murder of Patrick Howard illustrates the major obstacles
during the Irish War of Independence to prosecuting and convicting
policemen who had committed serious felonieseven in cases where
there was not even passive resistance from the police themselves. The
murder of Patrick Howard exceeded what Foucault called the mar-
gin of tolerated illegality. Instead of carrying out an extrajudicial kill-
ing in reprisal for insurgent attacks against the police, as the crown
forces commonly did in late 1zo and early 1z1, George Pearson
had shot a civilian while robbing a public house, in a district where
before the incident he was unknown to the local police. In addition,
he had botched the job and left behind witnesses who could iden-
tify him as the shooterwitnesses who could not be frightened into
8;. Court-Martial (Smith and Pearson), 16 June 1z1, ff. (;(8. In his objec-
tion the counsel for the prosecution had stated: You see, I have no opportunity of
cross-examining this lady or being able to qualify the statement that is contained
there, which is, of course, a very serious statement, and a portion, the latter portion,
of which I submit could not possibly be evidence at this trial (ibid., f. ().
88. Ibid., f. ((.
8. Thomas Pearson, Statement of Conversation with Featherstone, undated,
but probably late June 1z1 (ibid.). In a letter to Major General Tudor, Pearson stat-
ed: I have posted to you under a seperate [sic] cover a statement of the conversation
I heard in Gormanston made by ex-constable Featherstone. See Thomas Pearson to
Tudor, z8 June 1z1 (ibid.).
silence, despite the inability of the police to ensure their safety. And
yet Pearson came close to going freeas his accomplice Smith actu-
ally did. Neither man ever confessed to his crime, and they both got
away before the local police could catch them; indeed, the local po-
lice never left their barracks on the night of the shooting. In the days
that followed, preoccupied with a guerrilla war, the local RIC had
little time or manpower to spare for such internal investigations, even
when the military suggested that they had arrested the wrong man.
Lastly, the authorities might never have identied either Pearson or
Smith if Featherstone had simply kept quiet. Unexpectedly, the case
of Patrick Howarda case in which a Black and Tan was caught and
punished for murderdemonstrates just how limited the power of
the British government really was in Ireland during the War of Inde-
pendence. Its hold over its own police was almost as weak as its hold
over Irish nationalists.
Even George Pearson escaped the noose in the end. Judge Advo-
cate Graeme had concluded his report with a recommendation for
mercy: I feel very strongly that this is a case where the death sen-
tence should be commuted.
90
The judge advocate general did not
go this far, but he too called the attention of higher authorities to the
fact that the courts nding had not been unanimous.
91
And while
Thomas Pearson was writing repeated letters on his brothers behalf,
Dublin Castle took its time in considering whether the extreme pen-
alty should be imposed. In mid-July 1z1 the Irish government was
formally advised that the case against Pearson was too weak to justify
the death sentence, and at the beginning of August the viceroy com-
muted Pearsons sentence to penal servitude for life.
92
On z; Febru-
ary 1zz the chief crown solicitor went one step further and recom-
mended to the viceroy that Pearson be freed from custody:
Whilst I cannot say that the verdict was wrong, whilst it is for the
court to weigh the evidence, I think that in dealing with the case now
regard can be had to the fact that there was only a bare majority in
favour of conviction, that this trial took place under exceptional leg-
o. P. Sutherland Graeme, R v. Pearson, RIC, 16 June 1z1 (ibid.).
1. Judge Advocate General to General Ofcer Commanding-in-Chief, Ireland,
z( June 1z1 (ibid.).
z. Whiskard to Assistant Undersecretary, 1; July 1z1; Whiskard to Chairman,
General Prisons Board, z Aug. 1z1 (ibid.).
islation necessary to cope with exceptional conditions, that had one
out of twelve jurors any real doubt in the case, there could not have
been a conviction, and that considering the amnesty [following the
Treaty on 6 December 1z1] and the release of persons about whose
guilt there can be no doubt, the prerogative of mercy may now be
exercised and Pearsons release directed.
93
George Pearson was freed on 1; March 1zz but does not appear to
have prospered in life. The remainder of the le consists of correspon-
dence between the ex-constable and various government ofcials. In a
letter to Chief Secretary Greenwood in late September 1zz, Pearson
complained that he was now destitute a heavily in debt.
94
In a let-
ter to the king almost three weeks later, Pearson moaned that he was
absolutely unable to obtain a livelihood of any kind and pleaded
for a full pardon.
95
In his last letter, sent to the Irish Ofce in late
November, Pearson still maintained his innocence and groaned once
more that he was unable to obtain employment of any kind through
this charge being brought against meand its results. There is no
relief for an Englishman who served over there, he declared in utter
dejection, and I am at the end of my resources.
96
The governments
coldly formal response ve days later is the nal document in the le:
It is regretted that the decision previously conveyed to you that it is
not possible for you to be granted a free pardon is nal and cannot
be reconsidered, and that therefore no pension can be paid to you in
respect of your service in the Royal Irish Constabulary.
97
. H. A. Wynne, George Stewart Pearson, z; Feb. 1zz (ibid.).
(. George Pearson to Greenwood, zz Sept. 1zz (ibid.).
. Pearson to King George V, 1o Oct. 1zz (ibid.).
6. Pearson to Irish Ofce, z Nov. 1zz (ibid.).
;. Irish Ofce to Pearson, z8 Nov. 1zz (ibid.).

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The Murder of Patrick Howard: A Case Study of Police Crime

in the War of Independence

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