Chapter 12

Michael McConnon

1877

On the evening of Monday, 25 December 1876, Sergeant Charles Shepherd of the 1st Battalion, Grenadier Guards, was not joining in with the Christmas revelries. Shepherd was the duty sergeant in the guardroom at the Chelsea barracks, ready to take in any soldier who had a little too much to drink, or committed some other breach of army rules.

The first man brought in that evening was Private Alfred John Rawlings. He was not arrested for being drunk and disorderly, but for refusing to obey orders. He was placed inside the guardroom, a room with one large wooden bench or bed off to one side, where soldiers could rest. Rawlings wasted little time in lying down and getting off to sleep.

The next soldier to be brought to the guardroom was Private John Slack, who was suffering from the effects of rather too much alcohol. He too found a place on the large bed and began sleeping off the beer.

Some twenty minutes later, Private John Brewerton was marched in. He was sober and had been charged with being absent without leave. Brewerton joined his two fellow prisoners on the bed and he too fell into a deep sleep.

At 11.30pm, a fourth prisoner, Private Noah Johnson, was escorted into the room. Johnson was very drunk and rather dirty, having fallen over in the street. He looked around the room, at the other three prisoners who were all now, apparently, in a deep sleep, and found himself a place on the bed.

Twenty minutes after this, at 11.50pm, two police constables entered the barracks, and flanked by them was a fifth soldier, twenty-four-year-old Private Michael McConnon of the 2nd Battalion. He, too, was very drunk and, after details of his arrest were given to Sergeant Shepherd, was placed with the other prisoners in the guardroom. Ten minutes after this, at midnight, Sergeant Shepherd glanced through the peephole into the guardroom and saw that all was well. Four men were asleep on the wooden bed and the fifth, McConnon, was sitting on that same bed, away from the other four.

Fifteen minutes later, at 12.15am on Tuesday, 26 December, cries of ‘Murder!’ rang out from the guardroom. Sergeant Shepherd looked through the peephole again. Now, two men were standing against the far wall, obviously afraid. McConnon was pulling a third man along the floor and the fifth man, Noah Johnson, was nowhere to be seen.

Without further delay, Shepherd opened the door and marched into the guardroom. Now, he could see the fifth man, Johnson, lying off to one side. He was face down and his head was covered in blood. McConnon was placed in a separate lockup, the other three were moved to a large cell and the doctor called to attend to Johnson. It was all to no avail. Private Johnson was already dead and McConnon found himself facing a charge of murder.

The trial of Michael McConnon took place on 8 January 1877, before Mr Justice Hawkins. The first witness was Sergeant Shepherd, who detailed the arrival of the five men on Christmas night. He also testified that when he first entered the guardroom after the attack, McConnon had shouted, ‘Take me to a cell, for I have killed him.’ McConnon was indeed confined in a separate cell, but it did little to calm him down. For the next half hour or so he kicked against the cell door and only stopped when Shepherd went into the cell and confiscated his boots.

The other three prisoners in that guardroom were obviously important witnesses and the first of these was John Slack. He had been asleep at the time the attack commenced, but was woken by a loud disturbance. Looking across the room he saw Johnson lying on the floor, with McConnon standing over him, kicking him repeatedly in the head. Suddenly, McConnon stopped and turned towards the bed. Brewerton was still lying down and McConnon grabbed hold of his ankles and pulled him onto the floor shouting, ‘If you take this man’s part, I will serve you the same.’

John Brewerton told the court that he was in a deep sleep and heard nothing of the attack. He was only woken when he was pulled from the bed and threatened by McConnon.

Alfred John Rawlings had also been asleep when the attack started, but he woke and, seeing what was happening, went to stand against the wall, as far away from McConnon as he could. It was Rawlings who shouted, ‘Murder!’ two or three times, in order to attract the attention of the duty sergeant.

A history of the two men involved in the attack was supplied by Henry Brown, a private in the 1st Battalion of the Grenadier Guards, the same unit that the dead man had belonged. Brown said he had known Johnson for about four years and they were close friends.

At around 9.00pm on the night of 25 December, Brown and Johnson had gone into a beerhouse on Lower George Street, Chelsea, and enjoyed a few pints together. At 10.35pm, McConnon came into the same public house and he was already very drunk. For no apparent reason, McConnon walked up to Johnson and said, ‘You are a bloody liar.’ To this, Johnson replied, ‘You are the same.’ There was, however, no further confrontation and Johnson left the bar soon afterwards, to be followed by McConnon a few minutes later. Brown said that he had no idea what the exchange of insults was about.

Constable Octavius Wheeler was on duty in Commercial Road, Pimlico, at 11.30pm, on 25 December, when he saw McConnon approaching. He was obviously very much the worse for drink and when Wheeler spoke to him McConnon took off his tunic and announced that he would fight him. A small crowd gathered and McConnon extended his invitation, saying that he would fight any man there. Wheeler and another officer then arrested McConnon and escorted him to the Chelsea barracks.

Walter Eason was a lance corporal in the 3rd Battalion of the Grenadiers and he was on duty with Sergeant Shepherd at the barracks. He confirmed that Johnson and McConnon were both very drunk when they were brought in.

Sergeant Joseph Thompson had been called to the scene by Sergeant Shepherd, and saw the body of Johnson lying in the guardroom. He then went to McConnon’s cell and told him that the man he had attacked was dead, and he would be charged with wilful murder. To this McConnon replied simply, ‘I don’t care.’

The final witness was Dr Albert Louis Fernandez, the surgeon of the 3rd Battalion, who was called to examine Johnson in the guardroom. He confirmed that the man was dead and two days later, on 28 December, performed the post-mortem. He found Johnson’s right ear had been almost kicked from his head. There were three ribs broken on the right side and one of these had lacerated the liver, which was the direct cause of death.

Having listened to the evidence, the jury had no difficulty in deciding that McConnon was guilty, spending just five minutes on their deliberations. McConnon was then sentenced to death by the judge. He did not, however, lose his life in the execution chamber. In due course, the death sentence was respited and McConnon was sent to prison instead.