that evening and were going home. The captain questioned them and asked them did they not know that martial law had been proclaimed, and that he could shoot them "like dogs." As Coade turned away, Colthurst said, "Bash him" and one of the underling officers broke his jaw bone with the butt end of his rifle, knocking him senseless. Then Colthurst whipped out his revolver and shot him as he lay. He was left lying in his blood (the stain marking the spot for several days); later he was taken by the ambulance to the Barracks, where he died that night without ever regaining consciousness. My husband protested against this horrible murder, and was told by Colthurst to say his prayers (Capt. Colthurst was a very religious man), as he would likely be the next.
A few yards further down another murder was committed by Capt. Colthurst, but we have not been able to elicit any facts. The Simon report states, "The evidence of the different witnesses can only be reconciled by inferring that more than one case of shooting occurred during the progress of Capt. Colthurst's party." It goes on, "None of the evidence offered to us afforded any justification for the shooting of Coade; it is, of course, a delusion to suppose that martial law confers upon an officer the right to take human life, and this delusion had in the present case tragic consequences."
The evidence as to the above atrocities was carefully omitted at the military court-martial held in June on Colthurst. It was only against the strongest protest from the military that Sir John Simon insisted on this case being investigated at the Commission. We have evidence that at least two other murders by Colthurst later in the week were perpetrated, but this was ruled out at the Commission as "not within their scope."
My husband was then taken as far as the bridge and left by Colthurst in charge of Lieut. Leslie Wilson. Colthurst said a prayer over him (O Lord God, if it shall please thee to take this man's life, forgive him, for Christ's sake) and left instructions that if his party was sniped at during their expedition that Skeffington was to be shot forthwith. Leslie Wilson testified that he saw "nothing strange" in the order and would have carried it out, and it was in fact a common practice with these parties engaged in suppressing liberty in Ireland to take such "hostages."
Capt. Colthurst then bombed Alderman James Kelly's premises (they mistook him for his namesake Alderman Tom Kelly, a Sinn
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