The ACT's chief prosecutor has resigned after a board of inquiry accused him of "serious misconduct" during the high-profile investigation and prosecution of Bruce Lehrmann.
ACT Attorney-General Shane Rattenbury said that Shane Drumgold's role as director of public prosecutions was "no longer tenable" and he had accepted the lawyer's resignation.
Yet while Mr Drumgold agreed to quit, he disputed many of the inquiry's adverse findings against him.
"While I acknowledge I made mistakes, I strongly dispute that I engaged in deliberate or underhanded conduct in the trial or that I was dishonest," he said.
Last year, Mr Drumgold alleged that police pressured him not to pursue a rape charge against Mr Lehrmann, a former Liberal Party adviser.
Mr Drumgold also claimed political interference in the investigation of Mr Lehrmann.
The trial of Mr Lehrmann, who was accused of raping his former colleague Brittany Higgins in Parliament House in 2019, was eventually abandoned late last year after a juror engaged in misconduct.
Mr Lehrmann has always maintained his innocence and there have been no findings against him.
Mr Drumgold's allegations of interference sparked a board of inquiry — an investigation akin to a royal commission — though he later conceded his suspicions were wrong.
He told the inquiry he had mistakenly thought that ACT detectives were under pressure from a federal government minister to "make the matter go away".
But he believed it was "most likely a skills deficit" among police that explained his concerns.
It was "the cumulative effect" of various issues and the "unknown behind [all] that" that led to his suspicion, he said.
Inquiry report suggests DPP should quit
The inquiry, led by former Queensland judge Walter Sofronoff, handed its findings to the ACT government last week.
The report, which the ABC has seen, accuses Mr Drumgold of generating the inquiry on the basis of "scandalous" and "wholly false" allegations, "without any reasonable basis".
It also accuses the prosecutor of lying to the ACT's chief justice when discussing legal advice given to journalist Lisa Wilkinson about a Logies speech.
Mr Drumgold had written to the chief justice saying he had warned Wilkinson that speaking about Ms Higgins's allegations could undermine Mr Lehrmann's trial.
However, he later told the inquiry that he had only told Wilkinson that any publicity could delay the trial, and agreed that he should have given her more precise legal direction.
Mr Sofronoff's report suggests that Mr Drumgold should quit.
However, it also says the decision to prosecute Mr Lehrmann was taken correctly — though this does not imply that Mr Lehrmann is guilty.
Mr Sofronoff's report also criticises some aspects of the police handling of the investigation.
'I dispute many of the findings'
Mr Drumgold issued a statement this afternoon to explain his resignation and to criticise aspects of the board of inquiry.
He said he had hoped the inquiry would investigate systemic failings in the ACT criminal justice system that stymied sexual violence prosecutions.
"Instead, the findings largely focused on myself," he said.
"While I acknowledge I made mistakes, I strongly dispute that I engaged in deliberate or underhanded conduct in the trial or that I was dishonest.
"Although I accept my conduct was less than perfect, my decisions were all made in good faith, under intense and sometimes crippling pressure, conducted within increasingly unmanageable workloads."
Mr Drumgold strongly criticised the inquiry's decision to give advance copies of its report to news media, which "denied me procedural fairness".
"My career has been driven by a fire burning within, lit by an early life spent surrounded by the pain of chronic intergenerational social injustice," he said.
"This fire has fuelled a life that took me from a disadvantaged housing commission estate to an esteemed leadership role within the legal profession.
"Unfortunately, I find the fire has been extinguished and, try as I might, I cannot reignite it.
"Although I dispute many of the findings of the inquiry, I accept that the premature publicity surrounding me means that my office, the courts and, most importantly, the ACT public could not presently have faith in the discharge of the functions of the [DPP]."
Government to respond to inquiry this week
Mr Rattenbury said he spoke with Mr Drumgold about Mr Sofronoff's findings on Thursday.
"In light of the commentary in the report, Mr Drumgold and I agreed that his position as director of public prosecutions was no longer tenable," the attorney-general said.
"I can confirm that, on Friday, Mr Drumgold sent a letter advising me that he would be vacating his position as ACT director of public Prosecutions.
"I can also confirm Mr Drumgold has been provided a full copy of the board of inquiry report."
Mr Rattenbury said the ACT government would issue a detailed statement in response to the inquiry's findings early this week.
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2023-08-06 04:49:50Z
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