John Cashman was found guilty of taking part in the looting of Beckwith’s gunsmiths on Skinner Street, opposite Godwin’s bookshop, during the riots that followed the Spa Fields meeting on 2 December 1816. Cashman was a drunken, penniless Irish sailor and a relatively insignificant figure in the riots, but he was also the only one to be convicted. He was hanged at the scene of his crime – the last time this practice was carried out in England – and angry crowds filled Skinner Street and Snow Hill throughout the day.

See Locke, pp. 282-3. See also Godwin's entry for 2 December 1816.