On the evening of Friday May 1, 1868, the village of Sherburn, east of Durham City, was in a state of shock. At about 6pm, an incident had occurred in the centre of the village that would be forever engraved on the memories of those who witnessed it. It all happened very quickly and ended with one man lying dead inside a pub, his body peppered with gunshot, while another lay dying outside the pub's doorway with a bullet in his head. He, too, lost his life later that day but there was only one murder victim. 

The victim's name was John Cruickshank, a Scotsman and police officer who served the neighbouring village of Pittington, north of Sherburn. It was Cruickshank who was dead on the floor of Sherburn's Lambton Arms. His murderer, a fellow policeman and also of Scottish origin, was David Paton, who served the village of Sherburn.

The murder weapon - a Colt's six-chamber revolver - belonged to Paton, a former military man. The same weapon would be used to take his own life. At 2pm that day, Paton and Cruickshank had been in attendance at the office of Colonel White, the Chief Constable, in Durham City. The meeting was an investigation into allegations of drunkenness against Paton. Cruickshank had complained to Sergeant Caygill, Paton's senior officer, about the Sherburn policeman's behaviour but the investigation could not prove the charge. Paton was cleared, but during the investigation the chief constable was made aware of a statement from Cruickshank that said Paton had been discharged from a police force in Scotland. Home Office regulations forbade a police officer dismissed from one force from joining another. Without hesitation, the chief constable discharged Paton from the force. Paton greeted the dismissal with coolness and expressed no sign of anger.

After the investigation, Cruickshank departed for Pittington with a fellow officer called William Mackay, a resident of Sherburn Hill, and they proceeded along the steeply-sloping street of Gilesgate en route to their respective homes. On reaching New Durham, a pit village near Sherburn Road in Gilesgate Moor, the two men called into the home of Sergeant Caygill for a drink of water. When they departed from Caygill's house, they encountered Paton walking along the road and he calmly joined them.

Mackay and Cruickshank had been forbidden to talk any further about the investigation and as the three men walked together it was not discussed. Even Paton did not mention the subject, although he did ask about some possible relatives of Cruickshank he had known in a Scottish police force. Cruickshank said they were not related to him. Other than this, the conversation between the three men seemed amiable.

About half way between New Durham and Sherburn village, the walkers reached a bridge across the Shincliffe to Sunderland railway line. Here, Cruickshank intended to take a short cut home to Pittington but Paton told him that he had some important information to share and persuaded him to continue into Sherburn. Crossing another bridge over the Leamside railway and entering Sherburn, they reached the village centre. Here, Mackay went on to talk to a friend he had spotted nearby. Cruickshank told Paton he would wait near the Pittington Road while Paton collected the mysterious information from his house. Mackay and Cruickshank had not sensed any danger, because Paton remained calm all the time. In fact, when Mackay finished talking to his friend, he entered Paton's house to take a rest. As he did so, he saw Paton leaving by another door holding something behind his back - presumably the information. Mackay settled himself into a chair in the front room of Paton's house.

Coolly and without word, Paton approached the waiting Cruickshank and revealed the weapon, unhesitatingly opening fire on the unfortunate man. A bullet hit Cruickshank in the groin and he staggered backwards into the nearby pub. Here sat the landlord's niece and two men, whose peace and quiet was rudely interrupted. Cruickshank sought safety behind a screen in the kitchen near the fire, but the witnesses said that Paton followed in quick pursuit.

He fired the fatal shot into the cowering Cruickshank, with the bullet going between his ribs and into his heart. Just before the shot was fired, Harriet Thompson, the landlord's niece, said she overheard Cruickshank exclaim "Oh dear; murder", but his last words were probably much stronger. Cruickshank died instantly and Paton immediately departed from the pub.

Nearby in Paton's house, the murderer's wife, Jessie, had alerted Mackay that her husband had something in his hand. "Something has happened, run after him" she cried, but it was too late. Mackay headed quickly towards the pub only in time to see Paton leaving the building. As Paton swung his gun round, Mackay must have feared for his life, but on this occasion the killer's intended victim was himself. With a single shot to his head he fell into Mackay's arms. He died later that evening.

An inquest was held in the pub the following day and a verdict of murder and suicide was agreed. Cruickshank's funeral immediately followed the inquest and his grave can still be seen in Pittington churchyard.
The headstone reads "In memory of John Cruickshank, Police Constable at Pittington, a native of Grange, Banffshire, Scotland, who by the hands of his brother officer lost his life in the faithful performance of his duty at Sherburn on the 1 May 1868 in the 31st year of his age."

Two days later, Paton was buried nearby, but his grave is nowhere to be seen. Two widows and six children, four of them Cruickshank's would live to count the sorry cost.