*Ø* Mickelbergs unstitched – 22 years too late
Congratulations to the framed Mickelbergs
Almost twenty years ago a woman from Perth – 5,000 kilometres away on the other side of Oz – came to my office requesting support for a campaign to free the three Mickelberg brothers.
It's so long ago, I can't remember her name, nor whether she was a wife or simply a family member of one of the three. She gave me a copy of a mind-shredding new book, The Mickelberg Stitch. I recall I was impressed with her sincerity and dedication, and that, when I read it later, the book blew me away.
She told me an extraordinary tale of how the Mickelbergs had been "stitched up" by the police. On my side of the continent, we say "fitted up", but I knew that she meant "framed". It doesn't matter where you are in this great country, a frame-up is a frame-up. These men's supposed crime was a fraud that involved a lot of gold bullion from the Australian Mint in her home city.
She told me that one of the brothers was a plaster figurine hobbyist, and that sometimes he made latex moulds of hands, to cast in plaster. I was intrigued when she explained that the cops had used one of these latex moulds to fabricate a fingerprint that had helped fit up the brothers and send them to jail for extraordinarily long laggings (meaning "sentences", on my side of the Wide Brown Land).
Exonerated
These poor buggers have been fighting to clear their name for 22 years and finally their convictions have been quashed. In the meantime, one of the brothers has died, and one of the cops in the case was blown up in his own car. Another policeman died, but confessed before he did, which was very decent of him, for a bent copper.
I've been interested in the Mickelberg Stitch for almost half my life, and wish I'd done more to help. Like the incredible Sydney Hilton Bombing case on which I've reported in the Scriptorium, it is one of the worst cases of cop frame-ups this country of daily frame-ups has ever known. But at least I can send my congratulations to Ray and Peter Mickelberg and hope that they get a helluva lot more compo for not robbing the Perth Mint than the lousy hundred grand that Tim got for not bombing the Hilton and killing two garbagemen and a cop. One hundred million would be more like it, for the suffering it must have caused the Mickelberg men and their loved ones.
Let's hope the real swindlers get nabbed. And we can only hope (probably vainly) that some cops will do laggings like these blokes did for eight and six years, unlike in the Hilton case. In the Hilton, the crooked wallopers not only remain free, they have kept their promotions and bravery awards for arresting innocent men with non-existent bombs. Amazing, is it not?
Just imagine how corrupt Australian police would be if we didn't have an expensive Royal Commission into every State's police force every five minutes or so.
* Ø * Ø * Ø *
"After more than 20 years of maintaining their innocence, the brothers convicted of the infamous Perth Mint swindle had their convictions overturned.
"Ray and Peter Mickleberg's eighth appeal against their conviction for the 1982 theft of $653,000 in gold bullion from the mint was upheld in the West Australian Supreme Court of Criminal Appeal.
"In a 2-1 split decision, Chief Justice David Malcolm and Justice Christopher Steytler agreed the conviction should be quashed and no retrial ordered.
"Justice Michael Murray disagreed, saying the appeal should be dismissed on the grounds that no miscarriage of justice had occurred.
"Ray Mickelberg served eight years of a 20-year sentence for the swindle, while Peter served six years of a 14-year term.
"The third Mickelberg brother, Brian, whose conviction was overturned after nine months behind bars, died in a light aircraft crash in 1986."
Source: The Age
"But where there is exercise of power there is always resistance, and despite police threats some used less than ordinary means to distribute Lovell’s book. One proprietor was selling plain paper bags for $8.95 with ‘an entirely free copy’ of The Mickelberg Stitch inside. Another provided customers with a free copy with every bookmark he sold.
"However the attempted suppression was soon successful, as most of the booksellers felt they had no other choice than to remove it from the shelves. And the Mickelberg brothers remained in jail."
Unpicking the Mickelberg stitch
"The Mickelberg stitch has shocked many people in Perth but it is worth going back and examining the evidence to see just how shocking an affair this really was."
Anatomy of a stitch-up
Copies of The Mickelberg Stitch (and a subsequent book, Split Image, on the defamation actions and the Mickelberg appeals) used to be available from the Mickelberg Committee, 81 Mullalloo Drive, Mullalloo WA 6025, Australia, and may well still be.
Congratulations to the framed Mickelbergs
Almost twenty years ago a woman from Perth – 5,000 kilometres away on the other side of Oz – came to my office requesting support for a campaign to free the three Mickelberg brothers.
It's so long ago, I can't remember her name, nor whether she was a wife or simply a family member of one of the three. She gave me a copy of a mind-shredding new book, The Mickelberg Stitch. I recall I was impressed with her sincerity and dedication, and that, when I read it later, the book blew me away.
She told me an extraordinary tale of how the Mickelbergs had been "stitched up" by the police. On my side of the continent, we say "fitted up", but I knew that she meant "framed". It doesn't matter where you are in this great country, a frame-up is a frame-up. These men's supposed crime was a fraud that involved a lot of gold bullion from the Australian Mint in her home city.
She told me that one of the brothers was a plaster figurine hobbyist, and that sometimes he made latex moulds of hands, to cast in plaster. I was intrigued when she explained that the cops had used one of these latex moulds to fabricate a fingerprint that had helped fit up the brothers and send them to jail for extraordinarily long laggings (meaning "sentences", on my side of the Wide Brown Land).
Exonerated
These poor buggers have been fighting to clear their name for 22 years and finally their convictions have been quashed. In the meantime, one of the brothers has died, and one of the cops in the case was blown up in his own car. Another policeman died, but confessed before he did, which was very decent of him, for a bent copper.
I've been interested in the Mickelberg Stitch for almost half my life, and wish I'd done more to help. Like the incredible Sydney Hilton Bombing case on which I've reported in the Scriptorium, it is one of the worst cases of cop frame-ups this country of daily frame-ups has ever known. But at least I can send my congratulations to Ray and Peter Mickelberg and hope that they get a helluva lot more compo for not robbing the Perth Mint than the lousy hundred grand that Tim got for not bombing the Hilton and killing two garbagemen and a cop. One hundred million would be more like it, for the suffering it must have caused the Mickelberg men and their loved ones.
Let's hope the real swindlers get nabbed. And we can only hope (probably vainly) that some cops will do laggings like these blokes did for eight and six years, unlike in the Hilton case. In the Hilton, the crooked wallopers not only remain free, they have kept their promotions and bravery awards for arresting innocent men with non-existent bombs. Amazing, is it not?
Just imagine how corrupt Australian police would be if we didn't have an expensive Royal Commission into every State's police force every five minutes or so.
"After more than 20 years of maintaining their innocence, the brothers convicted of the infamous Perth Mint swindle had their convictions overturned.
"Ray and Peter Mickleberg's eighth appeal against their conviction for the 1982 theft of $653,000 in gold bullion from the mint was upheld in the West Australian Supreme Court of Criminal Appeal.
"In a 2-1 split decision, Chief Justice David Malcolm and Justice Christopher Steytler agreed the conviction should be quashed and no retrial ordered.
"Justice Michael Murray disagreed, saying the appeal should be dismissed on the grounds that no miscarriage of justice had occurred.
"Ray Mickelberg served eight years of a 20-year sentence for the swindle, while Peter served six years of a 14-year term.
"The third Mickelberg brother, Brian, whose conviction was overturned after nine months behind bars, died in a light aircraft crash in 1986."
Source: The Age
"But where there is exercise of power there is always resistance, and despite police threats some used less than ordinary means to distribute Lovell’s book. One proprietor was selling plain paper bags for $8.95 with ‘an entirely free copy’ of The Mickelberg Stitch inside. Another provided customers with a free copy with every bookmark he sold.
"However the attempted suppression was soon successful, as most of the booksellers felt they had no other choice than to remove it from the shelves. And the Mickelberg brothers remained in jail."
Unpicking the Mickelberg stitch
"The Mickelberg stitch has shocked many people in Perth but it is worth going back and examining the evidence to see just how shocking an affair this really was."
Anatomy of a stitch-up
Copies of The Mickelberg Stitch (and a subsequent book, Split Image, on the defamation actions and the Mickelberg appeals) used to be available from the Mickelberg Committee, 81 Mullalloo Drive, Mullalloo WA 6025, Australia, and may well still be.
Pip Wilson posted item above at 1:30 PM | Permalink
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