MURDER OF A DETECTIVE.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume IV, Issue 842, 15 January 1883, Page 2

MURDER OF A DETECTIVE.

The following account of the murder of Detective Cox in Dublin, which took place on November 25th, and was referred to in our summary of news by the San Francisco mail is taken from the Northern Whig :—For some time past the detective force of Dublin has been employed in watching men believed to have taken part in the recent Fenian outrages in Dublin. Specially picked constables had been told off, and their duty has been to watch the houses frequented by these men, to follow them, and obtain any information concerning them, Some ot these are men who were arrested under the Peace Preservation Act, now expired, on suspicion of having taken part in the Phoenix Park murders and other outrages, and others are persons known to be associates ot these men since their discharge from prison. For this special duty the detective force of the Dublin Metropolitan Police has been largely augmented, almost entirely from the ranks of the ordinary Dublin police force. Since the passing of the Crimes Act these detectives have been most active, and numerous searches for arms were made in houses in the lower quarter of the city, but not with much success. The supervision of the police has made these men, suspected of unlawful designs, more cautious, and the police have reason to believe that they themselves were subjected to a counter system of espionage by the emissaries of the Fenian organisation in Dublin. It has been noticed that gangs of suspected men have frequented Sackville street and the adjoining streets almost nightly, drinking in well-known publichouses in the by-streets. From night-

fall on Saturday the detective officers carefully observed the movements of one i of these gangs. A little after ten o’clock a party, suspected to be members of a secret society, were seen coming from Earl street, which leads into Sackville street. This party passed down Sackville into Middle Abbey street, and then went into a public-house. Constable Eastwood, who first noticed them, with his companion, Constable Cox, at once summoned other members of the force who were within convenient distance. Six detective policemen were in this way got together at the corner of Middle Abbey street 'and Sackville street, and waited. There is a laneway leading from Abbey street to the quay, which is called Bachelor’s Walk. The constables saw five men in the laneway apparently watching. They left the laneway and walked down Abbey street towards Capel street, about fifty yards. The detectives followed them, dividing into two parties, each consisting of three. They walked at the other side of the street from that on which the suspected men were. Constables Eastwood, Cox, and Stratford walked in front, and Constables Haughton, Williams, and Beatty followed twenty yards behind. The first were armed with revolvers, the second three with sticks only. When the first three reached the Nation newspaper office they crossed over towards the other side of the street. This movement of the police was followed by three shrill whistles from a pea whistle carried by one of the gang, which at once halted and faced the police. Cox, Eastwood, and Stratford were at this time halfway across the street, and Eastwood saw a revolver in the hands of one of the men. He called to Constable Cox, “ Arrest that man,” at the same time pointing at the man who carried the revolver. At once some one cried out —“Now is your time, shoot him.” The man who carried the revolver coolly stepped off the , footway, stepped out a few paces, and deliberately aimed at Constable Cox, firing two shots at him. He was within a yard of the policeman at the time, and the bullet struck the unfortunate officer in the head, mortally wounding him. The constable did not instantly fall, but grappled with his assailant. Constable Eastwood drew his revolver at once artd fired at this man, who fell to the ground with the officer. Constable Stratford also fired at the person who had attacked his comrade several times, and also fired at the other members of the gang. Shots were then exchanged between the attacking party and the two detectives who carried revolvers, at least twelve shots being discharged. Eastwood tried to grapple with one of the gang, and at the same time he was seized by someone from behind. Looking round, he saw a man whom he knew to be Devine. This man then struck him a violent blow on the back, and he fell. He tried to rise, and two shots were fired at him. One 1 passed through his hat and the other passed through the cloth of his coat at the elbow. The officer’s revolver then fell from his hand. It was afterwards picked up by a passer by, and restored to him. Eastwood cried out “ I know you; do not dare to fire.” Whether Devine would have fired it is not possible to say, but at that moment Sergeant Danvers, of the ist Battalion King’s Own Rifles, who had been walking down the street, rushed up. Constable Eastwood called to him in the Queen’s name to assist him. The i soldier grasped by the throat with his left hand, and, drawing his sword

with the other, threatened to kill Devine if he resisted. Eastwood also grasped Devine, and then putting his hand across the man’s chest felt two revolvers under his coat. About fifty people had now collected, and among them was a drunken woman, and she cried out with an oath, “ Don’t let the soldier go; fire on the soldier,” and she tried to trip him up ; but he was easily able to put her off. The police then -ordered the crowd to fall back, and they did so. The entire occurrence occupied a very small space of time, and before it had concluded the other members of the gang made off. They were piobably unaware that only some of the policemen were armed with revolvers, and in addition to this escape would have been impossible owing to the number of people who had collected within a very short time after the first shot was fired. While the fight was in progress Constable Williams got a violent blow, he states, in the head. He wrenched the revolver from the hand of the man who had shot Cox. Cox and his assailant were placed on a car and taken to Jervis street Hospital, not far distant; but when the former was examined it was found that he was quite dead. It is stated that one man, known to the police as a bad character, so persistently and closely followed the car that a detective on it had to threaten to-shoot him if he did not get out of the way. A medical examination of Constable Cox’s body showed that the bullet which killed him entered at the base of the skull and severed the spinal column. The constable must have turned his head sidewise when he was fired at. There was no other wound on his body. He was twenty-five years of age, and during the four years he was in the force on ordinary police and detective duty he had a good character. He has also an uncle in the force, who is inspector of the B Division. He was unmarried.