While working for the London office of wire service Reuters during March 1963, Sykes broke the famous parliamentary speech made in the House of Commons by Tory Secretary of State and War, John Profumo, who claimed there was "no impropriety" in his acquaintanceship with model Christine Keeler. Later, in the mid-1960s, he covered the trial -- and subsequent execution -- of gaol escapee and murderer Ronald Ryan for the Melbourne Sun, a case which polarised both Victoria and the rest of Australia over the issue of capital punishment. For Sykes, however, perhaps his most memorable achievement in a career spanning 51 years as an author/ columnist/reporter was winning the GJ Stokes Memorial Award for his lifelong contribution to Australia's mining sector at last year's Diggers & Dealers Forum in the West Australian gold capital of Kalgoorlie-Boulder.
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