People thought Pottinger made a lot of mistakes. He was in trouble for not having enough police guards on the gold escort and letting his prisoners escape. On the night of August 9, Pottinger and a group of police surrounded the house of Gardiner's mistress, Kate Brown. The bushranger escaped when Pottinger's pistol fired accidentally. They arrested a young boy who they thought was a friend of the bushrangers. When he died from a fever in gaol in March 1863, this was seen to be caused by Pottinger's cruelty. In February 1862 Pottinger was in court at Yass for assault. During a game of billiards he had been called a cheat, a liar and a scoundrel. He hit the person with the billiard cue and smashed his head through a window. On September 27, 1862, Pottinger had appeared before a Bathurst court on a charge of assault. In February 1863 Pottinger went to Sydney for the trial of the escort robbers. He was pushed in the street by people in the crowd. He also threatened a Member of Parliament, J. J. Harpur, with his whip. He didn't like things that Harpur had said about him.