DPP Shane Drumgold defends his record as Lehrmann’s lawyer calls him ‘social justice crusader’

Bruce Lehrmann’s lawyer has called prosecutor Shane Drumgold a “social justice crusader” as the ACT DPP announced his resignation after a damning report into his handling of the Brittany Higgins rape trial.

The ACT‘s embattled Director of Public Prosecutions Shane Drumgold has quit over damning allegations of misconduct in the rape trial that rocked the nation -- as his rival in the case labelled him a “social justice crusader” who lost his objectivity.

Mr Drumgold handed in his resignation after an inquiry into the handling of Brittany Higgins’ rape allegations against fellow Liberal staffer Bruce Lehrmann -- effectively demanded by Mr Drumgold himself -- alleged serious misconduct against him including that he withheld key information from the defence and lied to the Supreme Court.

In announcing his departure a defiant Mr Drumgold justified the “less than perfect” conduct with the demands of “intense and sometimes crippling pressure” and said he always acted ”in good faith”.

He said the findings were ”difficult to reconcile” with the trial judge’s “gratitude at the end of the case, for the exemplary way all counsel conducted the trial.”

“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,” he said in a statement to the Guardian.

ACT DPP Shane Drumgold has quit. Picture: Dylan Robinson

“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.

“Unfortunately, I find the fire has been extinguished, and try as I might, I cannot reignite it.”

The findings were leaked to the media prior to formally being released, a move Mr Drumgold said denied him “procedural fairness”.

Among the most serious claims made by the inquiry was a finding that Mr Drumgold attempted to hide the “Moller Report” - a document which detailed police claims of discrepancies in Ms Higgins’ evidence.

Bruce Lehrmann with his lawyer Steve Whybrow. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gary Ramage

Mr Drumgold’s response has been blasted by Mr Lehrmann’s defence lawyer Steve Whybrow who went up against him in the high-profile trial.

“Mr Drumgold’s statement seems to confirm what was blindingly apparent to the defence during the trial…that he saw himself more as a social justice crusader than an independent minister for justice,” he said.

“This apparent “end justifies the means” explanation for his conduct is frankly alarming coming from a DPP, a position which already wields so much opaque and unreviewable power over the lives of people who come into contact with the criminal justice system.”

His former client Mr Lehrmann also backed in the comments.

“This shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone, it is the very least that should happen,” Mr Lehrmann said.

“The response from the former Director is not acceptable, insufficient and not worth the paper it is written on. The ACT government now needs to show leadership and hold the ODPP to account. If they don‘t, I will.”

Mr Lehrmann has maintained his innocence and the single sexual assault charge was dropped following a botched trial.

Walter Sofronoff KC found Mr Drumgold to have lied to the Supreme Court over a note made about a meeting with presenter Lisa Wilkinson before she made a speech at the Logies in June 2022 – which resulted in the trial being postponed.

The report also found evidence of unethical conduct by Mr Drumgold, including his use of a note concerning a discussion he had with Wilkinson days before her speech.

Mr Sofronoff also found Mr Drumgold had improperly questioned Senator Linda Reynolds, the former boss of Ms Higgins and Mr Lehrmann, on the stand.