George Edalji
George Ernest Thompson Edalji (22 January 1876 – 17 June 1953) was an English solicitor and son of a vicar of Indian Parsi descent in a Staffordshire village. He became known as a victim of a miscarriage of justice for having served three years' hard labour after being convicted on a charge of injuring a pony. He was initially regarded having been responsible for the series of animal mutilations known as the Great Wyrley Outrages, but the prosecution case against him became regarded as weak and prejudiced. He was pardoned on the grounds of the conviction being an unsafe one after a campaign in which Sir Arthur Conan Doyle took a prominent role.
George Edalji | |
|---|---|
| Born | 22 January 1876 Penkridge, Staffordshire, England |
| Died | 17 June 1953 (aged 77) Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire, England |
| Nationality | British |
| Education | George was educated at Rugely Grammar School and then Mason College, Birmingham, where he studied law. |
| Occupation | Solicitor |
| Known for | Great Wyrley Outrages |
| Relatives | siblings: Horace Edward Edalji (brother), Maud Evelyn Edalji (sister) |
The difficulty in overturning the conviction of Edalji was cited as showing that a better mechanism was needed for reviewing unsafe verdicts, and it was a factor in the 1907 creation of the Court of Criminal Appeal for England and Wales. Despite an official inquiry's finding that Edalji was the author of poison pen letters associated with the mutilations, he was allowed to resume practice as a solicitor and lived quietly with a sibling until his death.