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MANSLAUGHTER. I 'MANSLA:GHTER. I VERDICT IN SWANSEA SHOOTINGI CASE. The Borough Coroner (Mr. J. C. Morris) I resumed, at the Guildhall, Swansea;, in Thursday, the inquiry concerning the death of Private Enoch Daniel Dudley, of the 6th Welsh Reserve, the victim of the shooting affair in Wind- I street on Christmas night. Sergeant William Hopper, Pentrege thin-road, who is charged with the wilful murder of Dudley, and wounding of Private Gates, was in court. Mr. EL Thompson watched I the case for Hopper, Mr. Edward Harris was for the relatives, and Mr. Laurence Richards watched the case for the Public Prosecutor. Mr. W. H. Jones, Oxford- ¡ street, was foreman of the jury. The following evidence was heard after eve went to press with our previous issue. Dr. Woodwell Gabe, house surgeon at Swansea Hospital, said Dudley was quite dead when brought to the hospital. In the post-mortem examination made with Dr. Trevor Evans he found death to be from wounds caused by a rifle bullet. The bullet wound, with skin margin slightly lacerated, was between the second and third ribs on the left side of the chest, and there was a small punctured wound two inches above the inferior angle of the right shoulder blade, where the bullet left. Thomas Lauder, 5, Roseland-terrace, St. Thomas, a new witness, said he saw the escort coming up Wind-street, heard the order given, saw the sergeant in front of the halted men. From behind them, he thought he saw the middle man in the front rank move slightly, and the next' thing he saw was the sergeant's rifle lev- elled at this man. He heard the report, 6aw the fire, and the two men drop. Al minute or so later Hopper was smoking a cigarette and had one hand in his pocket, seeming quite cool. Geo. Hy. Llewellyn, lioensee of the Hansel Arms, an ex-policeman, said when lie arrived Hopper, with a rifle and fixed bayonet, was standing looking at the two men on the ground. He asked Hopper, How did this happen ?" and he replied, I shot them." Asked why, he said, "Because they were mutinous at the docks." On making an examination, he, told Hopper that one of the men was dead, and he replied, I know all about that." P.O. Skinner now arrived, and witness said to the constable, This (Hopper) is the man that did it." He said, That's right." P.C. Skinner had a conversation with Hopper, and then handed the sergeant and his rifle to him, while he made arrangements to deal with the injured. As people were ques- tioning Hopper, who kapt making state- me.nts. witness told him the least he said the better. He replied, a It's done, and it can't be helped." On the way to the station be said, "I am very sorry. I had to do it to defend myself. They at- tacked me first. Hopper had a very •mistook, and witness thought him sober. He had drawn witness's attention to a ajrstdh on his face that had been done come time previously. P.C. Alfred Skinner said when he ar- I rived one of the men was apparently! dead, and Che other was groaning. He! sent for the ainbulance. From something' he was the previous witness, he tsked what vr" the matter, and Hopper replied, I shot him." He helped in the removal of thb men to the hospital. At the mortuary he found in one' of deceased's pockota a bottle containing a enmil quantity oi whisky (produced). He thought Hopper perfectly sober; he was quite calm. By ttie Foreman There was no bayonet on deceased's body. TIM rfto had no cartridges in ft, and had no signs of being recently fired. The witness Llewellyn, re-called, said lie saw Sergeant Hopper take off the de-I ceased's belt and bayonet sheath (he did not observe whether ther" was a bayonet) J and o?n his coat. I Thomas Cornelius Nicholls, 17, Phillilis-I ■ parade, sand one of the prisoners while Killing on had his bayonet out at his not threateningly, but as if to hand it to the guard behind him. He be- lieved the bayonet was unsheathed. He agreed with previous evidence as to the sergeant raising his rifle and firing. He said to Hopper, "You've shot this man; he's dead," and he replied, The ought to have been dead hefor." He then handed him a rifle with which he bad shot him, leaving another, with. bayonet fixed, in his other hand. The rifle had no bayonet attached. Asked what was the matter. Hopper said, These .men have been mutinous on the docks. One of them struck me on the face." (Pointing to the scratch mentioned pre- i viously.) There was an unsheathed bayonet, which a civilian had in his hand. I He did not know where this came from. He thought the middle man in the front row (Dudley) was stipding., perfectly still just before the firing. The witness Private Thomas, recalled, rpoke to receiving the rifle. which he thought to be the sergeant's, from the Inst witness, and from it came an empty cartridge case. There were other live cartridges, so he put the cut-off in and banded the rifle to Corporal Gray. Corporal Thomas Gray corroborated this. He found four live cartridges in the magazine. He handed the rifle to Lieutenant Hopwood (from whom Lieu- tenant Williams had said he received the rifle he produced). William George Hnxtable, 3, Fleet-; street, said to some people who gathered Hopper said, He rushed at me with his bayonet. I asked him to give it. He refused. I shot him." A gentleman remarked. I., You shot him-yon did your duty?" He re- plied YMI." It seemed to him a further remark of Hopper was to the effect, It's Hme the was dead." He saw the f tergeant speak to a member of the guard 1 who, he believed, went for an ambulance. P.C. Geo. Williams said in the Central Police Station charge-room the sergeant said, I was coming from the docks. They wanted to fight me over there, and I iii Wind-street they started again. One of tkem struck me in the face, so I shot fhem. I'm sorry for them—oate is dead —but I did it in self-defence." Detective-Sergeant J. J. Hayes said to I tifett Hopper said, It was mutiny. One bullet struck the two men. They had been carrying on for some time." Later, F,ergt.-Major Miller was also to inter- view him, and, cautioned, Hopper Said, I went to disarm them, when one of them threatened to put his bayonet through me. I put my rifte up and off it went." Summing u-p, the Coroner eedd it seemed almost impossible that the gun could have accidentally discharged. If it was a oaee M" murder, there must be malice etioroe- thought. The quarrel end the low of whisky—and perhaps temper-was evi- dence to support this view, but there was jonaiderable evidence that be had been indulging in intoxicants, end that might have prevented caljn, considered inten- tion forming malice aforethought. In- eufeordmatioa < in military law was a seriowe offence, but-was there evadettce to whov anything that would excuse the (hooting of Dudley in the summary man- ier in wfeidk they had been told he thot p After twenty mmntes deliberation, the iier.v Toiled that Hoppw sfeo* Dudley, and VHat flbe flfeootittg was deliberate, but with- HI: intenfciosi to cause death: a verdict ti nmnslaogjiter." PoRee Court Proceedings. ) At Swansea Police Court on Monday morning, Mr. R. Martin, (in the chair), t)-. Nelson Jones, Mr. Hyam Goldberg, end Mr. W. Williams, resumed the bearing of the charges against William Ifform),-r eM). a sergeant in the Reserve nf the 6th Welsh Regiment, of causing ( .P. death of Pte. Bnoch DMHwt Dudley at Winu-street, Swansea, on Christmas night, and of shooting and wounding Pte. Lewis Gates with intent to murder. —Mr. Laurence iiiciiardts appeared for the public prosecutor, and Mr. H. W. Thompson for the prisoner. Military evidence had been previously called, whilst a coroner's jury, it will bo remembered, had returned a verdict of "Manslaughter" against; Hopper. Evidence was given by Thos. Cornelius Nicholls, Phillipie Parade, who said be saw the shooting. When he told Hopper that Dudley was dead, he said, "The ought to have been dead before," adding that with Gates he had been, causing mutiny on the dock, and that one of them had struck him on the face. lie saw no provocating movement by Dudley or Gates before the shot was fired. A new witness was the wounded man, Lewis Gates, who still look ii weak, and sat while giving evidence. He was still a patient at the Swansea Hospital, he said. On Christmas Day he was on sentry duty at the South Dock in the afternoon from 2 to 4 o'clock. fiprgt. Hopper was in charge of the guard. When he went off duty he and Dudley, who was off at the same time, went to the guard room to put their rifles in. At about 5 o'clock they went up to the town without leave from Sergt. Hopper, for the latter was not there. A little after 6 o-Icloti- they went into a public-house, and later into another, meeting Corpl. Knight. They had six or seven drinks of ale, and about 9 o'clock the three of them went back to the docks. Dudley and himself were not quite sober. On arriv- ing, they went to the cookhouse, where they saw Sergeant Hopper, whose condi- tion ho did not notice. At 10 o'clock Dudley and he went on sentry duty, their posts being near each V>ther. Nobody posted them. Later there was a bit of a scuffle on the floor between Dudley and the sergeant, the cause of which he did not know. He tried to part them, but could not. He thought ho heard Sergeant Hopper shout- ing for the guard, and went back to his post. The guard fell in and took Dudley and himself away, and marched them up to Wind-street. Somewhere in Wind-street Hopper ordered Halt! Left turn," and said something (he did not know what) to Dudley. He then saw Sergeant Hopper putting the rifle to his shoulder and heard the shot. He saw Dudley fall and immediately fell himself, he being behind Dudley. He remembered no more. Dr. Howell Woodwell Gabe repeated his inquest evidence as to Dudley, and as to Gates said there was a small punctured bullet wound, between the sixth and seventh ribs on the right side. This he took to be the entrance wound, while the exit wound, much larger, was three inches behind it. In the clothing there were pieces of. bullet (produced). What he found was quite consistent with his being JI behind the first shot. The wound was not in itself serious. David Richards Evans, licensee of the Adelphi Hotel, Wind-stieet, who was too ill to attend the Coroner's inquiry, said he heard Hopper say, I shot them II both." Other witnesses were: Wm. George! Huxtable, 3, Fleet-street, Swansea; Thomas Lauder, 5, Roseland-terrace, St. Thomas; P.C. Alfred Skinner, George Henry Llewellyn, licensee of the Mansel -43-ms, P.C. George William-s and Dettc- tive-sergeant T. J. Hayes. J'he latter said accused "aid 'l'we mi-tiny. One bullet struck fie two mav; they had been carrying on for souv. tin* To Sergt.-Major Miller he said, "I went to disarm them, when one thr" teLed to put his bayonet through me. I had my rifle up, and off it went." When c^argx d with shooting Gates, he said, What do you you want to make two charges out of it for? R was all done in one act." Hopper was perfectly sober, and had a driad scratch on the right cheek. Charged on Monday with the murder of Dudley, he said, "I did not murder him; it was an accident." Charged with I wounding Gates with intent to murder, he said, "It is absolutely wrong." Now charged, accused said: H I am not guilty, sir. I told my company officer, fieut. Wllliains, exactly how it hap- pened afterwards. It was a pure acci- dent, and I am very eorry about it." The magistrates committed Hopper for trial at the Assizes.

DEATH OF MR. PHILIP HAWES.

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