Plenty, New Norfolk, along with his wife. Downfall The success of smuggling gangs is dependent upon the goodwill of the local people. The gang began to lose this special relationship as they extended their ruthless behaviour beyond that of the publicly acceptable crime of smuggling and turned on the rural communities. Some of the members of the Gang started resorting to breaking into local residences. The problems were compounded when Richard Morgan, a member of the blockade forces at Dover, was shot and killed. Morgan, who was a quartermaster with the blockade, was well liked in Dover and spotted the Gang trying to run a cargo ashore on Dover Beach. After firing a warning shot the Gang turned on him, resulting in his death and the wounding of a seaman who was with him. A reward was offered for information after this incident which was claimed by several people and as a consequence, in October, 1826 the blockade forces together with two Bow Street Runners raided The Bourne Tap and captured George Ransley and seven other members of the Gang. Eventually a total of nineteen men were captured and stood trial at Maidstone Assizes in January 1827. They were all found guilty of charges that carried the death penalty but their lawyer, a local gentleman from Maidstone, managed to get their sentences commuted to transportation. Stories There is a story that as a result of a fight between the Gang members one night, one of the smugglers' number was murdered and the body disposed of down a well at the side of the Inn. It is said that on some nights the sounds of scuffling and a body being dragged outside can still be heard. Although the Gang had a brutal reputation, they were not without a sense of humour. One officer who was blindfolded and had his legs bound was told he was to be thrown over a cliff. He managed to cling on to tufts of grass as he fell and hung with his legs dangling for some time. It was not until his blindfold slipped that he realised his feet were a matter of inches above the ground. The 'cliff' was only seven feet (2 m) high. Ransley lived at a The Bourne Tap and stories were circulated about there being a ghost which manifested itself as a floating severed head in the old building which served