on 15 june 1862 the gold escort coach that took the gold from the goldfields of forbes to bathurst was robbed. this was one of australia's biggest robberies. o'meally and several of his friends were in the gang led by frank gardiner. a week after the robbery the police, led by sir frederick pottinger, captured two of the robbers, henry manns, and charlie gilbert. charlie gilbert was the brother of gang member john gilbert. john gilbert had nearly been captured but was able to escape. he went straight to "the weddin inn", and together with ben hall and o'meally, captured the police and released the prisoners.