Ned Kelly tattoos - Origins and forensic implications

dc.contributor.authorByard, R.
dc.date.issued2011
dc.description.abstractTattoos 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.
dc.description.statementofresponsibilityRoger W. Byard
dc.identifier.citationJournal of Clinical Forensic and Legal Medicine: an international journal of forensic and legal medicine, 2011; 18(6):276-279
dc.identifier.doi10.1016/j.jflm.2011.05.006
dc.identifier.issn1752-928X
dc.identifier.issn1878-7487
dc.identifier.orcidByard, R. [0000-0002-0524-5942]
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/2440/66794
dc.language.isoen
dc.publisherChurchill Livingstone
dc.rightsCopyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd and Faculty of Forensic and Legal Medicine. All rights reserved.
dc.source.urihttps://doi.org/10.1016/j.jflm.2011.05.006
dc.subjectNed Kelly
dc.subjectOutlaw
dc.subjectTattoos
dc.subjectIdentification
dc.subjectDVI
dc.titleNed Kelly tattoos - Origins and forensic implications
dc.typeJournal article
pubs.publication-statusPublished

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