Ned Kelly is often held up as a folk hero, an outlaw who fought for the voiceless.

But do we really know the truth about the notorious bushranger?

140 years ago, three policemen were ambushed and killed by Kelly and his gang.

Sergeant Michael Kennedy was murdered in the incident that became known as the Stringybark Creek Massacre.

And his great-grandson, Leo Kennedy, is on a mission to change the way Australians perceive the infamous Ned Kelly.

“He threatened to terrorise,” Leo tells Chris Smith.

“He threatened to take people’s lives.”

Leo says on this day in 1878, his great-grandfather was killed in cold blood just for doing his job.

“Here you have a man, working hard for his community and trying to protect the community from the likes of the Kellys who were stealing horses, stealing cattle, belting people up, starting brawls.

“They chased him [Sergeant Kennedy]. They could have let him go, but they chased this man for over a quarter of a mile.

“They shot him through the heart with a shotgun.”

But that’s not where the horror ends.

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Leo Kennedy is the author of a new book called Black Snake – the real story of Ned Kelly.