ACT DPP Shane Drumgold hires top NSW silk Mark Tedeschi KC ahead of Lehrmann inquiry

Zach Rolfe’s barrister and the Crown Prosecutor who put away serial killer Ivan Milat will play key roles in the upcoming Board of Inquiry into the handling of Brittany Higgins’ rape claim.

Crown Prosecutor Shane Drumgold and his junior counsel Skye Jerome. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gary Ramage

Zach Rolfe’s barrister and the crown prosecutor who put away serial killer Ivan Milat will play key roles in the upcoming independent inquiry into the handling of Brittany Higgins’ rape claim.

The ACT Director of Public Prosecutions, Shane Drumgold SC, has hired Sydney silk Mark Tedeschi KC to represent him at the inquiry while Steven Whybrow SC – who represented Bruce Lehrmann at his aborted rape trial – has hired Adelaide silk David Edwardson KC.

Complicating matters, however, is that for the past two years Mr Tedeschi has been prosecuting a money-laundering case against Canberra lawyer Ben Aulich in the ACT Magistrates Court alongside the investigation’s officer in charge, ACT Police Manager of Criminal Investigations Detective Superintendent Scott Moller, whom he may now have to cross-examine at the inquiry.

The Australian has previously revealed that senior police believed there was insufficient evidence to prosecute Lehrmann and that Superintendent Moller, who oversaw the investigation into Ms Higgins’ alleged rape, recorded in his police diary that there was “too much political interference” in the case.

He is expected to be questioned at the inquiry, which will examine how Mr Lehrmann’s matter was handled and a relationship breakdown between the DPP and AFP.

ACT police chief Neil Gaughan has signalled he wants the inquiry to examine the behaviour of Mr Drumgold and an alleged contempt of court by Ms Higgins over a speech she delivered outside court after the trial was aborted.

In an email to his officers in December, Commissioner Gaughan welcomed a public inquiry “into all aspects of the matter including … the actions of police, the prosecution and defence, issues leading to delays in the trial, issues leading to the subsequent mistrial, the decision not to proceed and the associated allegations of contempt of court”.

Mr Drumgold has indicated he wants the public inquiry to examine “both political and police conduct”.

Brittany Higgins outside the Magistrates Court in Canberra. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Gary Ramage

Mr Tedeschi, who will represent Mr Drumgold at the inquiry, was NSW senior crown prosecutor before resigning in 2018 to return to private practice.

During his 21 years as senior prosecutor, the 71-year-old ran several high-profile cases, including those of convicted child killers Kathleen Folbigg and Keli Lane, kidnapper and double murderer Bruce Burrell, Milat, and Gordon Wood.

In 2008, the latter was convicted of killing 24-year-old Caroline Byrne in 1995 at The Gap in Sydney’s eastern suburbs but after serving three years of a 13-year sentence, Mr Wood was acquitted of his girlfriend’s murder.

The barrister who got him acquitted on appeal was Tim Game SC, who has been hired to represent ACT Victims of Crime Commissioner Heidi Yates at the inquiry.

As a commonwealth agency, ACT Policing will be represented at the inquiry by the Australian Government Solicitor with assistance from the AFP’s internal legal area, while its officers appearing have the choice of legal representation from the AGS or a personally nominated representative.

Bruce Lehrmann, who was accused of raping Brittany Higgins. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gary Ramage

Mr Edwardson, representing Mr Whybrow, represented Northern Territory police officer Mr Rolfe last year where after a five-week trial, he was found not guilty of murdering Indigenous man Kumanjayi Walker during a 2019 arrest at Yuendumu.

Mr Edwardson has appeared in many high-profile cases, including the successful defence of former West Australian barrister and crown prosecutor Lloyd Rayney against police convinced he had murdered his wife, Corryn.

Ms Higgins alleged Mr Lehrmann raped her in senator Linda Reynolds’ ministerial office in the early hours of March 23, 2019, after a night out drinking with colleagues in Canberra.

Mr Lehrmann was later charged with sexual intercourse without consent. The 28-year-old’s Supreme Court trial was aborted in October because of juror misconduct and immediately listed for retrial in February.

Mark Tedeschi KC. Picture: Jonathan Ng

In December, Mr Drumgold said he would not prosecute the case again because of the impact it would have on Ms Higgins’ mental health. He said while he believed the evidence offered a reasonable prospect of conviction, he did not believe it was in the public interest to proceed.

Within a week, Chief Minister Andrew Barr and Attorney-General Shane Rattenbury announced establishment of a Board of Inquiry into the Criminal Justice System in the ACT.

Retired judge of the Queensland Supreme Court and Court of Appeal Walter Sofronoff KC is conducting the inquiry. The board will hold an initial public hearing on April 17 to outline the nature and scope of the inquiry, with further public hearings from April 26.