Norfolk Gazette And Publick Ledger

An inquest was held a week ago, on the body of the driver of the Cashel coach, who was shot at the turn pike gate of Kilcullen. The following says the Dublin Freeman's Journal, is a statement of the circumstances under which this unfortunate man has lost his life:—there were two persons engaged in the business of driving, one was a new driver, and the other, (the deceased) was sent forward for the purpose of pointing out the peculiarities of the road. We do not know which of them held the reins and the whip, but it seems that some country people were made to feel the efficacy of the latter; whether (as is too often the case) for mere purposes of diversion, or to obviate an apprehended accident, does not appear certain. When this occurred it was two o'clock, and the coach had not advanced many rods when it was assailed by a stone. The horses were instantly pulled up, and the guard, followed by the deceased, proceeded to discover the quarter from whence the missile came.—An altercation with the country people was of course the consequence. The guards hied their fire arms, and loud threats were used to endeavor to induce one of the suspected persons to surrender, and suffer himself to be conveyed to the coach as a prisoner.—Little time elapsed before a shot was heard, and a man seen to fall. A crowd, of course, instantly collected, and on enquiry being made as to the sufferer, it was ascertained to be Cunningham, the driver. It was from the pistol of the guard, Dawson, who has been committed to Naas jail for trial, that the fatal ball proceeded. Dawson accounted for the shot, by stating that it occurred in an effort made by the deceased to snatch the pistol, which was cocked, from his hand. The unfortunate Cunningham was conveyed in great agony to the coach, and he lived until he reached Naas. During the journey, he called to a single passenger who was in the coach, the loss which his wife and children must sustain in his death and desired, we are informed, repeatedly, that his blood should be avenged. The shot was received in the abdomen, and no surgical aid could yield the smallest relief. Dawson, we are told, is loud in his protestations of the shot being unintentional. We have not heard that any animosity subsisted between him and the deceased. The verdict of the jury was—Wilful and deliberate murder against James Dawson.