The Snitch: Drumgold thought Bruce Lehrmann trial inquiry would focus on grilling the cops
Why did ACT DPP Shane Drumgold lead with the chin? What are the Ibrahim family worried about? And why are private prosecutions a dangerous game? The Snitch is here.
Police & Courts
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It’s safe to say the inquiry into the Bruce Lehrmann trial has been nothing short of disastrous for the ACT’s top prosecutor, Shane Drumgold SC.
But with the release of exhibits from the inquiry, a picture is starting to emerge that even he didn’t see coming.
As a quick recap, Drumgold was the prosecutor in the trial of Lehrmann, the Liberal staffer who pleaded not guilty to raping colleague Brittany Higgins inside Parliament House in 2019.
The trial was aborted because of juror misconduct and then discontinued by Drumgold because of Higgins’ ailing mental health.
He then demanded an inquiry into the conduct of the Australian Federal Police and politicians involved in the trial, claiming there was “interference in the criminal justice process”.
Drumgold got what he asked for and was the first witness called at the inquiry.
He was then comprehensively smashed for days on end over his own conduct.
It is now widely tipped that Drumgold will be lucky to keep his job, thanks to the efforts of the inquiry he demanded.
And now the exhibits being released by the inquiry are giving us a picture that, even in the lead-up to the hearings, Drumgold hadn’t twigged to the fact that he could be in strife.
His junior barrister in the trial, Skye Jerome, submitted a lengthy affidavit to the inquiry that showed where Drumgold’s head was at on the issue.
Where Jerome might have been concerned about appearing as a witness, Drumgold’s thinking was that they had nothing to worry about because it was the police who were in the firing line.
“Sometime between early to mid-February 2023, (Drumgold) told me that he had met with the chair of the inquiry and counsel assisting about the process of the inquiry,” Jerome wrote in her affidavit.
“ (Drumgold) said that I was likely to be called as a witness and that his view was that the inquiry would focus on the AFP.” Er, not quite.
Up until Drumgold was grilled on the witness stand, Jerome wrote that her boss was quite enjoying the process leading up to the inquiry.
“Shortly after receiving this request (to give evidence at the inquiry), I spoke to Mr Drumgold in his office,” Jerome wrote.
“ (Drumgold) told me that it was ‘therapeutic to answer questions’ (at the inquiry).
“ (Drumgold) referred to a timeline of public comments being made and how it all made sense to him now.”
GONE MISSING
Still on Drumgold, and if we gaze into our collective crystal ball, do you reckon there is a link between the ACT DPP extending his leave and the release of the interim findings from the inquiry into the Lehrmann trial?
We wouldn’t dream of stealing former judge Walter Sofronoff’s thunder before he announces his findings.
However, there are a few people in the know who have contacted us to say their spidey sense is tingling. It was announced during week that Drumgold is extending his leave until August.
During the inquiry, he was questioned over claims that he tried to withhold police documents from the defence lawyers and “unintentionally” misled the court.
Then there was lambasting he got for failing to warn Lisa Wilkinson about the dangers of making her Logies acceptance speech – after she won the award for the interview she conducted with Higgins – when the TV personality asked for his advice on the impact it would have on Lehrmann’s trial.
Stay tuned.
SCOUTS IN KNOTS
The alleged email-monitoring scandal inside Scouts NSW has ended up being an expensive fizzer.
Former Scouts NSW chief commissioner Grant De Fries, who is the current chairman of Scouts NSW’s South Metropolitan Region, took out a private prosecution in Burwood Local Court earlier this year.
He accused the organisation’s chief executive, Carolyn Campbell, and board chairman Kerry McGoldrick of unlawfully monitoring staff emails.
The case ended during the week, with magistrate Vivien Swain dismissing the charges and ordering De Fries to pay the legal costs of his colleagues, which totalled $22,000, by or before next month.
He was also ordered to pay $7561 to Scouts NSW. It’s a costly lesson in not taking these matters to the police.
De Fries opted to launch a private prosecution, where he played the role of prosecutor in the case.
The only problem is that if you lose a private prosecution, you get slugged with the legal bill.
IBRAHIM ANGST
Following last week’s story in which Sam Ibrahim blew up about how he was portrayed in younger brother John’s TV show, The Last King of the Cross, we’re told there is more angst in the family.
Snitch has been informed there is concern among some of the family members about what storylines will feature in the second season of the show.
Paramount announced recently that the show was being renewed for a follow-up season.
We’re hearing the 2009 shooting of Fadi would be a sore point if John decided to make that a key element of the storyline for the show that blends fact with fiction.
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