Rolinda Sharples painted the trial of Colonel Brereton after the event. Lieutenant-Colonel Brereton, who had sent the 14th Dragoons away from the scene of the rioting, was court-martialled in January 1832. Some people thought that Brereton could have done more to save the city from destruction if he had acted earlier and more decisively. For others, however, Brereton had been trying to hold his troops back from violence against the rioters. Many people thought that he was being made a scapegoat for the failure of the city magistrates to support him and give him orders to cope with the rioting. Tragically, Brereton shot himself four days after the trial began.