Anthony-Noel Kelly
Encyclopedia
Anthony-Noel Kelly is a British artist who was found guilty of the theft of body parts from the Royal College of Surgeons
, which he had used to make moulds for sculptures. He was sentenced to nine months imprisonment in 1998, and the case raised issues of the ethics of art and the legal status of body parts used for medical research.
Between 1991 and 1994 he persuaded a hospital worker to smuggle out the dissected remains of up to 40 bodies from the Royal College of Surgeons Casts of the body parts were used for an exhibition at the London Contemporary Art Fair in 1997. The cadavers were exhibited in a series of casts, painted silver and pinned to a wall, in order to view anatomy "in a historical context" according to Kelly. However, he was arrested soon after and formally charged with stealing human bodies following the discovery of plaster casts of deceased men and women as well as around 30 body parts during police raids at his South London
studio and his family's home, Romden Castle in Kent
, in April 1997. Kelly was sentenced to nine months in prison. The lab technician who had helped him, Niel Lyndsay, received a six-month suspended sentence
.
Kelly's guilty verdict was made possible by a landmark ruling by the trial judge, His Honour Judge Geoffrey Rivlin QC, that human remains used for medical research could be classed as property, and were therefore stolen in this case. He and Lyndsay were the first people ever to be convicted in England for stealing body parts.
Kelly was later able to reclaim art works confiscated by the police, due to a legal technicality
.
His work was exhibited in 2000 at the Anne Faggionato Gallery, London.
Royal College of Surgeons of England
The Royal College of Surgeons of England is an independent professional body and registered charity committed to promoting and advancing the highest standards of surgical care for patients, regulating surgery, including dentistry, in England and Wales...
, which he had used to make moulds for sculptures. He was sentenced to nine months imprisonment in 1998, and the case raised issues of the ethics of art and the legal status of body parts used for medical research.
Between 1991 and 1994 he persuaded a hospital worker to smuggle out the dissected remains of up to 40 bodies from the Royal College of Surgeons Casts of the body parts were used for an exhibition at the London Contemporary Art Fair in 1997. The cadavers were exhibited in a series of casts, painted silver and pinned to a wall, in order to view anatomy "in a historical context" according to Kelly. However, he was arrested soon after and formally charged with stealing human bodies following the discovery of plaster casts of deceased men and women as well as around 30 body parts during police raids at his South London
South London
South London is the southern part of London, England, United Kingdom.According to the 2011 official Boundary Commission for England definition, South London includes the London boroughs of Bexley, Bromley, Croydon, Greenwich, Kingston, Lambeth, Lewisham, Merton, Southwark, Sutton and...
studio and his family's home, Romden Castle in Kent
Kent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
, in April 1997. Kelly was sentenced to nine months in prison. The lab technician who had helped him, Niel Lyndsay, received a six-month suspended sentence
Suspended sentence
A suspended sentence is a legal term for a judge's delaying of a defendant's serving of a sentence after they have been found guilty, in order to allow the defendant to perform a period of probation...
.
Kelly's guilty verdict was made possible by a landmark ruling by the trial judge, His Honour Judge Geoffrey Rivlin QC, that human remains used for medical research could be classed as property, and were therefore stolen in this case. He and Lyndsay were the first people ever to be convicted in England for stealing body parts.
Kelly was later able to reclaim art works confiscated by the police, due to a legal technicality
Legal technicality
The term legal technicality is a casual or colloquial phrase referring to a technical aspect of law. The phrase is not a term of art in the law; it has no exact meaning, nor does it have a legal definition. It implies that that strict adherence to the letter of the law has prevented the spirit of...
.
His work was exhibited in 2000 at the Anne Faggionato Gallery, London.