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GRAFFITI HEROES #3

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In 1974 a 33 year old man named George Davis was convicted of robbing the payroll of the London Electricity Board in Ilford. He was nailed on the evidence of cops who


were outside the bank at the time of the robbery and was sent to prison for 20


years.




However, his friend Peter Chappell was convinced Davis
was innocent and inspired by discrepancies in the police statements and the


fact that none of the bloodstains at the scene matched with the defendant,


started calling for release. Chappall enrolled some friends and embarked on one of the largest


sustained graffiti campaigns Britain
has ever seen. Over the following months 'G DAVIS IS INNOCENT' appeared on


walls, bridges and tunnels from one side of London to the other, some of which


are still visible today.




The vandalism culminated in Chappell and four others breaking into Headingley


cricket ground in August 1975 the night before a test match between England and Australia. Using plastic cutlery


from a service station they dug holes in the pitch, filled them with oil and


painted 'Sorry it had to be done, but George Davis is innocent' in large white


letters on the wall as they left. The match was postponed and Chappell got 18


months for criminal damage.




The campaign brought the case to the attention of the Home Secretary who after


a police inquiry released Davis
two years into his sentence using the highly exceptional and controversial


Royal Prerogative of Mercy.




The fight to free George Davis was one of the most spectacular campaigns ever


fought against injustice, an achievement only slightly marred when a year after


his release Davis
was found guilty of robbing the Bank of Cyprus for which he served six years,


and three years after which he was caught red-handed robbing a mail train.




George Davis is now a free man and happily married to the daughter of a North


London Chief Inspector of Police.


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