Orphaned as a child and brought up by a housekeeper, Sir Ronald left school at fourteen to earn a living as a messenger in the local Geraldton courthouse, before subsequently enjoying a meteoric rise in the legal profession to become
a Justice in the highest court in Australia. Best known for Bringing Them Home (his moving and controversial 1997 report on the 'Stolen Generations' of Aboriginal children), Sir Ronald was also Crown Prosecutor in a number of high profile, important criminal and civil cases, including the trials of Eric Cooke (the last man hanged in Western Australia), John Button and Darryl Beamish.
When somebody swindled the Perth Mint out of gold worth more than half a million dollars - local police thought they had the culprits. The Mickelberg brothers, Ray, Peter and Brian, were their prime suspects.
