George Edalji was a shy and retiring, intelligent and extremely short sighted Anglo-Indian lawyer, the son of an Indian clergyman in Staffordshire married to an English lady. Edalji was accused of bizarre offences of animal mutilation and harrasment using abusive letters in 1903 and sentenced to hard labour. Conan Doyle took up his defence in outrage at the blatant injustice of his prosecution and sentence and shows clearly how the charges against him were sustained by an atmosphere of casual prejudice against "the other" and a desire by the police to get their man, regardless of the poor quality of evidence or the pursuit of much more plausible alternative leads. The whole case shows the police, Home Office and Staffordshire county establishment in a very poor light. Edalji was released half way during his sentence, but not pardoned and was denied compensation. A sad and tragic case. 5/5 ( )