George Davis (armed robber)
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George Davis (born 1941) became notorious because of an incident in which he played no part.
Davis was serving a prison sentence for armed robbery when, on August 19, 1975, it was discovered that the pitch at the Headingley cricket ground had been dug up, preventing further play in the test match between England and Australia. The vandalism was a protest by relatives and friends of George Davis, and was accompanied by graffiti proclaiming that "George Davis is innocent". Four people were put on trial, and one, Peter Chappell, was jailed for eighteen months.
However, in May 1976, the Home Secretary, Roy Jenkins, after a review of the case, agreed to George Davis being freed because of doubts over the evidence presented by the police which helped convict him. Two years later, Davis was jailed again, having pleaded guilty to involvement in another robbery. Having completed that sentence in 1984, he was jailed yet again in 1987 for a further offence.
The slogan "George Davis is Innocent" was used as the title of a song on Sham 69's 1978 live album Tell Us the Truth.