The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1833-07-26 00:00:00

SHADWELL CORONER'S INQUEST.

This inquest, which has been sitting for the-last ten days on
the body of John Peacock Wood, the waterman, was after a
sixth adjournment, closed on Monday. Mr, BAKER, the Co-
roner, summed up the evidence at great length, after which he
proceeded to read the depositions of the several witnesses, in
doing which he was frequently interrupted by the Jury, and
particularly by the Foreman, who complained that he had not
taken down the evidence correctly. They referred in several
instances to their own notes, and said they differed materially
from the depositions.
'[he Coroner said the depositions were correct; they were
the statements signed by the witnesses, to whom they bud been
read over. In his charge to the Jury he concluded his address
by saying—" It will be for you most seriously to consider whe-
ther any real or satisfactory evidence has been adduced, prov-
ing that such an extreme wilful and deliberate act of outrage
has been committed as to justify the verdict of murder. You
will further consider whether the death may not have been
caused by a want of due caution, iu the discharge of a duty
requiring caution, and from the neglect of which caution it
was probable that death has thereby ensued. In which case
it will be your duty to find a verdict of manslaughter. And
here you will recollect on the one hand that the evidence of the
medical gentlemen proves it to be improbable that death should
have been occasioned by the fall from the door of the White
Hart. Ou the other hand you will well consider the conflicting
testimony of the witnesses as to what took place after the fall.
You will most seriously and impartially weigh the compar-
ative credibility of their testimony,—the one party stating
that after the fall the deceased was treated with violence
on his way to the station house; the other declaring that,
from the time he was taken up from the ground until he
was deposited in the station house, he was treated with every
care, and received,no injury. If, however, after this long and
careful investigation, you should be of opinion that the act which
occasioned the deceased's death is still involved in mystery, and
that no sufficient evidence has been adduced to satisfy your
minds as to the manner in which the deceased met his death,
you will give your verdict accordingly."
The Jury having retired to consider their verdict, returned
into court after a short consultation, when _

The Foreman addressed the Coroner as follows :—Mr.
Coroner, it becomes my painful duty, after investigating the
whole facts of the case which bear upon the evidence, and many
of those facts are so familiar to our minds, that we can repeat
them by rote, to come to a conclusion, with deep regret, that
the deceased was murdered by a policeman unknown to us, and
therefore we feel bound to find a verdict of wilful murder
against a policeman of the K division of the metropolitan po-
lice, unknown, and we strongly recommend the government to
use some means whether by reward or otherwise to elucidate
this very mysterious case."
Coroner—Very well, gentlemen, it is your verdict, and not
mine, and I shall therefore take it of course.