Coldbath Fields riot

The Coldbath Fields riot took place in Clerkenwell, London, on 13 May 1833. The riot occurred as the Metropolitan Police attempted to break up a meeting of the National Union of the Working Classes (NUWC). Figures for the number of police present at the varied between 70 and 600 officers; figures for members of the public who attended varied between 300 and 6,000. Both Commissioners of Police of the Metropolis, Sir Charles Rowan and Sir Richard Mayne, were present and two British Army officers stood by to summon military reinforcements if needed. It is disputed which side started the violence, but Rowan led a number of baton charges that dispersed the crowd, and arrested the NUWC leaders. The crowd were pursued into side streets and a number were trapped in Calthorpe Street. Three police officers were stabbed and one, Constable Robert Culley, was killed. There were few serious injuries inflicted on members of the public.

A coroner's jury ruled Culley's death was justifiable homicide as the police had failed to read the Riot Act and been heavy handed in their dispersal of the crowd. This verdict was overturned by a government appeal to the High Court of Justice, but no-one was brought to trial for Culley's murder. George Fursey was charged with the wounding of the other two officers, but was acquitted by a jury at the Old Bailey. The coroner's jury, who had been feted by the Radicals, complained to the House of Commons. A select committee investigated the riot and largely exonerated the police, although it did note that Melbourne's declaration of the meeting as illegal was invalid as the document had not been signed.