Ronald Appleton, Queen's Counsel (born 29 December 1927) is the former chief crown prosecutor (Senior Crown Counsel) for Northern Ireland, a post he held for 22 years, a period that spanned the Northern Ireland 'Troubles'. Having established a broad civil practice as a QC, he would become one of the most experienced terrorism trial lawyers in the UK. As senior counsel he led for the Crown in many of the major murder and terrorism cases during those years. Martin Dillon, in his book on the Shankill Butchers trial described Ronald Appleton as "one of the outstanding lawyer of his generation".