The Cameo Conspiracy

Book excerpt: The definitive book on the case which led to a posthumous pardon. A classic within the True Crime genre. The notorious Cameo Cinema murder case of 1949 is one of Britain’s legal cause célèbres. But for over half a century the convictions of two young men, George Kelly and Charles Connolly, went unchallenged, until — following publication of The Cameo Conspiracy — both were exonerated by the Court of Appeal in 2003. This made it the longest-running miscarriage of justice in British legal history. In this powerful, meticulously-researched account the author painstakingly exposes the evil police conspiracy which sent Kelly to the gallows and Connolly to ten years’ imprisonment. He recounts how the men were framed by corrupt investigators and condemned by an amoral legal establishment, making it a terrible indictment of human wickedness by those supposed to uphold the law. This revised third edition of the definitive book on the case not only reveals a diabolical miscarriage of justice but comprehensively describes the arrests, trials and execution as well as Kelly’s successful posthumous appeal. It also authentically chronicles 1940s Liverpool, its pubs, post-war rationing, shebeens, black market and the colourful and seedy characters of the city’s underworld. Reviews “Skelly is a very good writer”—Norman Mailer “He writes from the heart with his life’s blood”—John Schlesinger “The best book I have ever read”—Former Police Sergeant, Chris Kelly “One man’s relentless hunt for the truth”—Liverpool Echo “A truly brilliant book … memorable and thought-provoking”—John Howley “An impeccable account of the infamous Cameo case”—Professor E Rex Makin As featured in the BBC TV’s Murder, Mystery and My Family.