Why does the Western Australian permanent government hate Ray Mickelburg so much? Liam Bartlett:

[The] former SAS trooper spent 8½ years incarcerated, mostly in the hellish confines of Fremantle prison, for something he didn’t do. Framed by corrupt cops for the 1982 theft of 68kg of gold bars from the Perth Mint, he and younger brothers Peter and Brian were wrongfully convicted in a saga that shamed the justice system and embarrassed authorities.

In 2008 Ray was awarded $500,000 by the state in compensation, a stingy amount for 8.5 years. Now the Legal Aid Commission is suing him for $145,353.41 in unpaid bills dating back to 1990.

Exactly where the LAC found these ancient invoices is unclear but it’s hard to believe it’s accounting systems are so bad that an amount so big was missed when it received a settlement eight years ago. …

Now [the Mickelbergs] are singled out in an act that reeks of faceless revenge and bad grace. In all other high-profile cases in WA involving a demonstrable miscarriage of justice, no other victim has been asked to repay the LAC.