Horrigan, John

Horrigan, John    1915 February 12^th     Mere

Military Tragedy at Mere – Soldier Fatally Stabbed

Attempted Suicide of his Assailant

A very sad tragedy occurred at Mere in the early hours of Sunday morning. The town, like so many more, has been invaded by the military, the particular regiment sent there being artillery, who are billeted on the residents. Three soldiers were sleeping in one room when there was a dispute about a pillow, a short struggle in the darkness and the almost instantaneous death of John William Horrigan, who had been stabbed through the heart with a knife by John Edward Allen. The third man in the room struck a light and summoned other soldiers from other rooms in the house, and Allen was taken into custody on the instructions of a sergeant and moved to the police station, where, apparently overcome with grief and horror, he attempted to commit suicide by cutting his throat with a razor from his kit-bag. Dr Rutter’s services were utilized, and the man was taken to the Red Cross Hospital, where he was detained. His injury was such that he was not able to attend the inquest.

The Inquest

The Coroner for South Wilts (Mr F H Trethowan) opened the inquiry into Horrigan’s death on Monday afternoon, the court being held in a large room over Mr Cowley’s motor garage, adjoining the bedroom in which the tragedy occurred. Lieut F C Flanagan, the officer commanding the RFA Battery, stationed at Mere, was present on behalf of he military authorities.

The Coroner, addressing the jury, said they would not be able to conclude the inquest that day. There was a possibility that some person would be implicated, and that person had the right to be present to hear the evidence if he wished to do so. At that moment that person was not in a position to make up his mind one way or the other, and under the circumstances the inquest would have to be adjourned, possibly for a month. He desired the jury to pay careful attention to the evidence, and requested them to say nothing about the tragedy until they were called upon to pronounce their verdict.

The first witness was Gunner Henry William Smith, of B Battery, 115^th Brigade, Royal Field Artillery. He said that Horrigan was a gunner in B Battery, and his regimental number was 54492.

Lieut Flanagan said the number was important as they had another man in the battery with exactly the same name.

Smith, continuing, stated that Horrigan was a married man with three children, and formerly lived at Deptford. Horrigan and he were friends before they enlisted at Woolwich, and subsequently they became acquainted with Gunner John Edward Allen, also a married man, who had no friends among the recruits, and asked if he might go about with Horrigan and himself. They consented and the friendship continued until the battery was moved to Mere. They went out together for two or three nights, but afterwards Allen went out alone, and was always out in the evenings, but he (witness) and Horrigan seldom left their billets after dark.

The Coroner : Was there any trouble between Horrigan and Allen during the time you were walking out together?

Smith : No trouble at all. They were very good friends.

Answering further questions Smith said that Horrigan, Allen and himself were billeted together and slept in the same room. He and Horrigan shared a big bed and Allen slept in a single bed. There was a space of about two feet between the beds. On Saturday night he and Horrigan were in bed when Allen came upstairs. Allen said, “Are you asleep already?” He replied, “I am not asleep, but Jack (Horrigan) is.” Allen then said he would go into the next room to see the other boys, and he did so, returning in about half an hour, at about half-past one. Allen took off his tunic and blew out the candle, but before getting into bed they had some conversation, and Allen was as friendly as a man could be.

Dispute about a Pillow

Did he say anything about Horrigan?

Nothing at all. When he got into bed Allen said, “Somebody has been having a game ; this is not my pillow. I had a big pillow last night. This is a small one.” He then reached over and snatched a pillow from under Horrigan’s head. Horrigan, who had awakened, claimed the pillow back, and Allen called him an offensive name. Horrigan replied, “I have never been that, Jack,” and with these words he sprang out of bed and put his trousers on.

The Coroner : Did you form any idea as to what he was going to do?

Witness : I think he took Allen’s remark to heart and was going round to give him a thumping for it. He jumped out of bed all of a passion. He went to his overcoat to get some matches. I heard the match box slide open and then I heard a groan, followed by a heavy fall on the little bed. The bed swung round on its castors. I said, “What’s up,” but there was no answer. I repeated, “What’s up,” but again there was no reply, and I jumped out of bed and lighted the candle. As I returned from the window-sill I could only see Allen, who was sitting on the edge of the bed. His shirt sleeve was rolled up and there was a blood stain all down his arm. It was just like an arm that had been painted red. I said to him, “Has he bitten you?” I thought Horrigan must have bitten his arm. Allen made no reply, but remained staring with his eyes wide open. I turned my head and saw Horrigan lying across the bed on his back, and I noticed blood on his hand. I said to Allen, “Jack, you have stabbed him.” When I returned I saw that the front of Horrigan’s shirt was covered with blood. I pulled up the shirt and blood spurted up about four inches from a wound in the left breast. I burst into tears because I knew then that I had lost my best friend. I told the boys to call Sergeant Stevens. When the sergeant came he said to Allen, “What have you done?” Allen replied, “I didn’t mean to do it, sergeant, it was quite an accident.”

The Coroner : Did you see a knife about?

Witness : There was a knife on the floor beneath the window. The blade was open. The knife was attached by a chain to a belt which belonged to Allen. There was blood on the blade of the knife.

The Coroner : Can you identify the knife? It was an ordinary service knife. Allen always carried his knife on a chain attached to his belt. Horrigan carried his knife in his pocket.

What happened after Stevens had spoken to Allen? The Sergeant said to Allen, “You know what you have to do now,” and he ordered two men to fall in and take Allen to the guard room. Allen burst out crying and repeated his words, “I did not mean to do it, it was an accident.”

Sergeant Thomas Bert Stevens said he was in charge of the men billeted at Mr Cowley’s house. He had noticed some amount of feeling between Allen and Horrigan. Allen always seemed to make sarcastic remarks if Horrigan said anything, and used to chip in and laugh. He had never heard any threats used, but he would not have been surprised to hear of a fight between the two men. He had never seen Horrigan annoyed all the time he had been in the billet. He was called to the billet at ten minutes to two on Sunday morning. He found Horrigan lying across the small bed on his back. He had gone white and could not speak. There was a great quantity of blood on his shirt. He lifted up the shirt and judged from the position of the wound that it be very serious. He sent a man for a doctor, and put a series of questions to those left in the room. Allen was standing away in a far corner. He spoke but it was difficult to understand him. He was very incoherent, but said he never meant Horrigan any harm. He sent Allen to the guardroom in custody, and told another man to inform the civil police.

The Foreman (Mr D’Angibau) : Do you know if there had been any quarrel before the men went upstairs.

Witness : As far as I know there had been no quarrel.

Were the men sober? Yes, sir, all of them.

Police Sergeant Perrett said he went to the bedroom and found Horrigan lying on the bed in a pool of blood. The knife was on the floor at the foot of the window and he took possession of it. Subsequently he found Horrigan’s overcoat hanging on a peg. His knife was loose in the pocket. He then went to the guardroom, and after cautioning Allen charged him with the wilful murder of Horrigan. He replied, “I had no intention whatever of doing it.” Allen’s hands were still covered with blood. He was taken to the Mere police station and locked up.

The Coroner : Will you state, quite shortly, what has happened since to account for Allen’s non-appearance. We won’t go into details.

Sergt Perrett : He was in custody at the police station this morning until 9.50 and then he became possessed of a razor and inflicted a wound in his throat. It is quite impossible to make any communication to him at present.

Dr F R Rutter, of Mere, said he was called at two o’clock on Sunday morning and found Horrigan quite dead. The body was lying obliquely across the bed with the legs hanging down at the side. A soldier was still supporting his head. There was a considerable pool of blood on the bedclothes and the front of Horrigan’s shirt was saturated. There was a small wound about half-an-inch long between his fifth and sixth ribs. There was a knife lying on the ground. It was smeared with blood right up to the hilt. Allen was still in the room, and several soldiers spoke to him, and he heard him reply that he opened the knife, but he did not speak very intelligibly. He did not seem to be the worse for liquor, but he was crying. There was an empty brandy bottle on the window sill.

On the instructions of the Coroner he had made a post-mortem examination. There was a small wound below the space between the fifth and sixth ribs, and the wound continued through the pericardium. There was a hole right through the heart. The wound in the chest caused sudden death.

The Foreman : Could the wound have been self-inflicted?

Dr Rutter : From the direction of it I do not think it could have been self-inflicted. The direction was upwards and inwards. I do not think a man could have inflicted a wound of that sort upon himself.

The Coroner said it was necessary to give Allen an opportunity of hearing the evidence. Dr Rutter attended him and the jury would like to know if there was any likelihood of his being able to attend.

Dr Rutter said Allen had a large wound in the neck which did not sever anything important. In any case it would be a case of three weeks or a month.

The Foreman said that in view of the discovery of the brandy bottle it seemed desirable that the jury should know if there had been any drinking in the bedroom.

Sergeant Perrett said he was informed that a bottle containing a little brandy was taken to the bedroom after the stabbing affray in case the wounded man required a stimulant.

The inquest was adjourned until Wednesday, March 10^th, at 2.30pm.

Inevitably, a verdict of Wilful Murder at the conclusion of the inquest.

Wiltshire Assizes Trial of John Edwin Allen

1915 May 28^th Soldier’s Quarrel at Mere

I shall quote the relevant passages of this report only.

Dr Rutter, cross-examined, said that the dead man was a muscular heavy man, and such a (stab) wound could be caused by his falling on the top of another man who held the knife in his hand, but he thought it would require the full weight of a man falling right to the ground.

..

Prisoner (John Edwin Allen), in the witness box, stated that he was a married man with two daughters, and he joined the Royal Field Artillery in December. He had never been in any sort of trouble before this, and he gave up a berth to fight for his country. He was billetted at Mere, with Smith and Horrigan and had never threatened Horrigan or anybody else. He had an ingrown toe nail and the doctor had advised him to pare the nail.

On Saturday, February 6^th, which was a wet day, he went for a long route march and that made his toe tender. In the evening they had a sing-song. He had been in the habit of chaffing his comrades but he had no bad feeling towards Horrigan or any of the others. Horrigan and Smith went to bed first, and he followed, and having taken his boots off he said he was going “to see the boys.” He stayed in another room with the other fellows, laughing and chatting, and when he returned Alcock came in and there was some good-humoured pillow fighting. Later he went down stairs with Alcock to have a glass of beer, but he blew the candle out before going down.

On his return he lighted the candle and sitting on the bed, opened the knife to pare his toe nail, but as the toe was so painful he decided to defer it until the morning. He left the knife on the bed. The candle was put out. Horrigan appeared to be asleep. He (Allen) had no pillow on his bed, and leaning across towards Horrigan, pulled at his pillow and awoke him. Some “words” passed and Horrigan asked him, “Are you going to shut the door?” and he replied, “No.” Horrigan said, “We will see about that.”

Witness picked up his knife and was going to place it on the window sill, where he usually placed it. Horrigan took hold of him by the shoulders. He fell back, and Horrigan fell on top of him. Horrigan gave a cry, sprang up, and fell on to the bed. He had not realised what had taken place until he remembered that he had his knife in his hand and he felt his hand was wet. He was too flabbergasted to say anything.

It is suggested you plunged the knife into Horrigan? No, sir.

Had you any intention of killing him? I bore not the slightest ill-will.

Had it ever entered your mind to do him any harm? I have never wanted to harm anybody.

Mr Parr (cross-examining) : The account you have given of this is that it was entirely an accident? Yes.

And an accident of such a nature that you were not in the slightest to blame? Yes.

What did you mean by saying afterwards to the soldier who was taking you to the guard room that you would bear your punishment like a man? My words were, if they disbelieved me I should have to bear my punishment like a man.

Why should you bear any punishment at all? Well, I don’t know, sir.

Have you ever, until this moment, suggested that the words used were: “If they disbelieve me,” or “If they don’t believe me I will take my punishment like a man?” No.

No other witness was called, and Mr Parr, addressing the jury, asked them whether they thought Allen picked up the knife for the purpose of using it in the fight which he thought was going to ensue. Counsel suggested that it was an act not pre-meditated. If it were an act not done in anger, but on the spur of the moment, without thinking of the consequences, an act done without meaning to kill the man ; If the prisoner stabbed the man intending to injure him and not to kill him, that was murder. Counsel added that if the jury felt that prisoner recklessly and carelessly took up his knife, and that from a collision between the two death followed, a verdict of manslaughter might be returned.

Mr Fenton, addressing the jury for the prisoner, said the prosecution had suggested no motive for murder and the jury would hesitate before they said that the prisoner deliberately and wilfully killed a man with whom he had been on friendly terms.

The Judge, in summing up, dealt at length with the evidence.

 

The jury, after an absence of five minutes, found the prisoner not guilty, and he was discharged.