Ned Kelly

[Loosehead]

I watched the 2003 version of Ned kelly the other night. He and his gang where portrayed as the good guys, ie Robin hood style and the police where the bad guys etc. Anyone know the truth of the story? IMDB hints that it is just the filmmakers slant on things.

[Octavius]

Ask a group of Australians what they think of Ned Kelly and you will soon discover that there is little grey area. Even nearly 125 years after Ned's death, opinions are usually either black or white. In general terms, the masses see Ned as either a merciless killer who unforgivably chose to take up arms against society, or as a national hero who was the embodiment of the Australian spirit.

Ned emerges as an utterly imposing individual, as he did from the mist at Glenrowan, clad in his world�famous suit of armour, for his extraordinary �Last Stand�. Pro�Kelly sentiment is at an all�time high. Even before the latest spate of publicity, there were clear signs that more and more Australians felt that Ned had been given a raw deal. In 2000, 91% of people polled believed that Ned had not received a fair trial when he was sentenced to death for murder. Others go further, suggesting he was the victim of a vicious system; a young man hounded into crime and whose death fell little short of martyrdom. Even in his own brief lifetime, he became a legend.

After his execution Kelly�s hair and beard were shaved, his head was cut off and the brain removed. Medical students then dissected the body. The flesh was boiled away from the skull, which was then shaved and oiled to become a ghoulish souvenir. While the headless body was buried in unconsecrated ground next to the Gaol, the skull's whereabouts are still unknown.

[Octavius]

Moreover,

He was a criminal. He shot and killed policemen. He kept ordinary Australians hostage. He was a thief.  There is no evidence to suggest that his gains were spread to the poor.

People admired his bravery and his defiance of the police (the 1881 Royal Commission into the Victorian Police Force's handling of the Kelly outbreak found the majority of it's members either inept, contemptuous or downright corruptible).  When it was declared that he was to be hung, 60,000 people signed a petition asking that he be spared. He was eventually hung at the Old Melbourne Jail on 11 November, 1880.

[Loosehead]

Thanks Octavius, that really helped

[Octavius]

I realised that in the 1st answer, I really hadn't answered your question and gave you stuff that you probably already knew. 

Although Ned wasn't innocent, there is a good website that gives details of all the policemen involved in the case, and it appears they were a very dodgey lot indeed. www.ironoutlaw.com