The Ardlamont Murder (also known as the Ardlamont Mystery and the Monson Case[1]), which took place in Argyll, Scotland, on 10 August 1893, gave rise to two high-profile court cases: a murder trial in Edinburgh (HM Advocate v Monson), and a defamation trial in London (Monson v Tussauds Ltd) the following year.
Alfred John Monson received the Scottish verdict of "not proven" in his High Court of Justiciary trial for the murder of Cecil Hambrough. Then, in 1894, he sued Madame Tussauds for libel and was awarded one farthing (the lowest possible amount at the time) in damages. The case established the principle of "libel by innuendo" in English law, and Monson v Tussauds Ltd[2] has been used to draw up defamation laws in many countries since.
A notorious case at the time, the trial received renewed attention when it was noted that Joseph Bell, revealed as the inspiration for the popular fictional character Sherlock Holmes, had been called as an expert witness at the murder trial, as was another inspiration for Holmes, Dr. Henry Littlejohn, who was a medical forensic expert for the Crown.[3]