Researchers have discovered that individuals adorned with Ned Kelly tribute tattoos are almost eight times more likely to have been murdered and nearly three times more likely to have taken their own lives.
A study conducted by Adelaide University Professor Roger Byard focused on the mortality factors of 20 South Australian men aged between 20 and 67, all bearing tattoos of Ned Kelly or related imagery.
The idea for the research emerged when he observed a notably high concentration of Kelly tattoos on remains in the Adelaide morgue.
Byard concluded that the admiration for the infamous Irish/Australian bushranger could pose significant health risks.
The fatalities among the Kelly fans—resulting from murder, accidents, and suicide—were contrasted against the rates of about 1000 other deceased individuals from South Australia, revealing that the suicide and homicide rates for those with the tattoos were 2.7 and 7.7 times higher, respectively.
Only three of the twenty men in the study passed away from natural causes, in stark contrast to fifty percent of the broader population. Furthermore, eleven out of the twenty tattooed individuals exhibited signs of alcohol and drug abuse.
“In spite of the highly selective nature of the population studied, those with these tattoos exhibited a higher than average incidence of traumatic deaths,” Professor Byard remarked in an upcoming publication within the Journal of Forensic and Legal Medicine.
“The individuals in this cohort with Ned Kelly tattoos certainly experienced a greater incidence of traumatic deaths when compared to other forensic cases; ironically, this parallels the fate of the unfortunate members of the Kelly Gang, whom these designs commemorate.”
The findings also highlighted that some tattoos illustrated Kelly’s iconic body armor or featured his purported last words before his 1880 execution: “Such is life.”
Former AFL player Ben Cousins has immortalized this quote across his midriff.
This study represents a groundbreaking effort, although prior research has drawn connections between violent deaths and the presence of anti-social tattoos on individuals.