 Hunt and eight others were tried at York Assizes on 16 March 1820 , charged with sedition . After a two @-@ week trial , five defendants were found guilty . Hunt was sentenced to 30 months in Ilchester Gaol ; Bamford , Johnson , and Healey were given one year each , and Knight was jailed for two years on a subsequent charge . A civil case on behalf of a weaver wounded at Peterloo was brought against four members of the Manchester Yeomanry , Captain Birley , Captain Withington , Trumpeter Meagher , and Private Oliver , at Lancaster Assizes , on 4 April 1822 . All were acquitted , as the court ruled their actions had been justified to disperse an illegal gathering . 
