Rare archive film of Sherlock Holmes' creator, alongside testimony from modern-day experts, illustrates the author-cum-detective's role in two of the most controversial and illuminating cases of injustice he handled in real life.

VIDEO CLIP
	Conan Doyle for the Defence You will need RealPlayer to access the clip. Visit WebWise for help downloading RealPlayer

The first case is about the son of an Indian-born vicar in rural Staffordshire, George Edalji. He was sentenced to seven years' hard labour for the horrific mutilation and killing of horses. It is a tale of shoddy forensics, poison-pen letters and institutional racism, which intrigued Conan Doyle, especially as it touched on events earlier in his own life when he was a practising doctor: a young man died in his care and the circumstantial evidence pointed towards his guilt.

The second case tells of Oscar Slater, a German Jew, sentenced to hang for the brutal murder of elderly Glasgow spinster Marion Gilchrist. Doyle fought his corner, revealing a high-level cover-up by the Scottish authorities to convict a man they knew to be innocent to protect a well-connected family.

These cases contributed to the passing of the Appeal Court Acts in England and Scotland.