Swifty

The extraordinary story of how a devoted nun became an equally devoted campaigner for justice – as a successful criminal defence lawyer. When Yvonne Benedicta Swift entered the Sacre Coeur convent in Rose Bay in 1938, she was determined to dedicate herself to religious life. But in the 1970s she did something unusual: retrained as a lawyer, established her own practice and defended some of Sydney's most notorious criminals. In her legal practice she took on clients who she believed had been wronged, especially by the legal system itself.