January 2002 Volume 83 Number 1 "serving the protectors"
The “empty” gun
By Allan L. Peters

“It is the empty gun that accidentally kills.” This old adage never proved truer than in the case of First Class Police Constable James Wall.

Wall was born in England on December 13, 1844. He migrated to South Australia in 1874 and almost immediately joined the South Australian Police Force. The likeable young constable showed great promise, and quickly advanced through the ranks to become the first class constable in charge of Belair police station.

He arrived in Adelaide on the morning of Saturday, November 5, 1881, to give evidence at the trial of an alleged sly grog dealer. After completing his testimony, he went to the police barracks, where he joined several friends for lunch in the mess around 1pm.

After lunch, Wall went with Mounted Constable Arthur Errington into No. 3 room, where they met a mutual friend, Richard James. The three friends sat around talking and skylarking for some minutes before Wall jokingly told James to go and saddle his horse. James laughingly refused. Errington joined in the mock argument, saying: “We will have to make him do as he is told.”

The game continued for some minutes before Wall picked up a stick and mockingly menaced James, telling him again to go and saddle the horse. James again laughingly refused and took an Adams revolver from its holster, which was hanging nearby. He looked at it to see if it was loaded. Wall also glanced at the weapon’s cylinder. In their own minds, both men were certain the weapon – which belonged to Mounted Constable Jacobs – was completely safe, and continued on with their game.

James pointed the revolver a few feet to one side of Wall who, in turn, pushed the weapon away with his hand. Errington, who was sitting on the edge of a nearby bed, began to caution his friends about the dangers of playing with firearms, but an ear-shattering shot rang out! Wall fell back with blood gushing from his nose!

Errington, and another constable who had been present in the room, rushed to Wall’s aid but found him dead.

A subsequent medical examination found that death had been instantaneous. The bullet had entered above the bridge of Wall’s nose and passed directly through his brain, fracturing his skull at the back of his head.

It was found in a later examination that the revolver had been loaded in five of its six chambers. It was thought both men had seen one empty chamber and assumed the weapon to be completely empty.

A coronial inquiry found that, while James had not intended in any way to harm his friend and colleague, he had certainly not exercised sufficient care in handling the firearm, and that this carelessness had left Wall dead. At a later departmental inquiry, a distressed James was fined the sum of one month’s pay for gross negligence.

On Tuesday November 8, 1881, Wall’s remains were interred in the West Terrace Cemetery. Following the cortege – which left the barracks at 3pm – were 65 foot constables, 20 mounted troopers and the entire detective force, Commissioner W. J. Peterswald, Inspectors Hunt and Sullivan, and several of Wall’s friends.

James resigned from the police force fewer than three years later.

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