Ned Kelly tattoos - Origins and forensic implications
Date
2011
Authors
Byard, R.
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Journal article
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Journal of Clinical Forensic and Legal Medicine: an international journal of forensic and legal medicine, 2011; 18(6):276-279
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Roger W. Byard
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Abstract
Tattoos depicting Ned Kelly, a 19th-century Australian bushranger (outlaw) are occasionally encountered in the contemporary Australian population at forensic autopsy. To determine the characteristics of decedents with such tattoos, twenty cases were identified in the autopsy files at Forensic Science SA. All of the decedents were white males (100%) with an age range of 20-67 yrs (average 37 yrs). Seventeen of the deaths (85%) were unnatural, due to suicide in eight cases (40%), accidents in seven cases (35%) and homicide in two cases (10%). Compared to the general autopsy population suicides and homicides were 2.7 and 7.7 times higher, respectively, than would be expected, with a striking male predominance. A Ned Kelly tattoo identified at autopsy in another country or in a disaster victim identification situation may suggest that the decedent was Australian or had a connection with that country. Although the population studied is highly selected, individuals with these tattoos had an above average incidence of traumatic deaths.
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Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd and Faculty of Forensic and Legal Medicine. All rights reserved.