Case against Bruce Lehrmann ‘very weak’: AFP Commander Michael Chew at Sofronoff inquiry

Michael Chew says he believed there may have been insufficient evidence in the case against Bruce Lehrmann, but he did not experience any interference from within the police force or externally.

Australian Federal Police Commander Michael Chew appears before the Sofronoff inquiry.

A high-ranking federal police officer says he believed the case against Bruce Lehrmann for the alleged rape of Brittany Higgins was “very weak”, but he directed officers to push ahead because he was concerned that the media was compromising the former staffer’s right to a fair trial.

The 12th day of the Sofronoff inquiry, probing the prosecution of Mr Lehrmann, also heard that ACT chief prosecutor Shane Drumgold SC told The Project co-host Lisa Wilkinson that he “was not a speechwriter” ahead of the 2022 Logies ceremony.

AFP Commander Michael Chew, deputy chief of ACT Police between August 2018 and 2021, said he had had almost daily conversations with detective Superintendent Scott Moller about the strength and weakness of the evidence against Mr Lehrmann.

Commander Chew said he couldn’t recall telling Mr Moller that if it were his choice he would not proceed to prosecute Mr Lehrmann, but he accepted he may have said “there was too much political interference” in the case. “I can’t recall the exact words, but I accept that’s what Superintendent Scott Moller recorded,” he said.

Lisa Wilkinson announces her resignation from The Project.

Commander Chew said he did not have a file note of the meeting and said it was possible he had said those words to Mr Moller after being briefed extensively throughout the investigation and forming the view that the case against Mr Lehrmann was “very weak”.

“My personal opinion was there may be insufficient evidence or a very weak case to go forward with the prosecution,” he said.

Commander Chew said the brief of evidence did meet the threshold required by the Magistrates Act because the case had an alleged victim, an alleged offender and limited corroboration.

“The potential for a successful prosecution was there,” he said. “Did I think it was a strong case? Probably not.”

Commander Chew said the political interference he referred to was the intense media interest in the case; the fact the alleged rape was said to have taken place in Parliament House; the involvement of senators Linda Reynolds and Michaelia Cash as witnesses; and the MeToo movement.

“I had no direct or indirect ­interference from any external or internal sources,” he said.

When Mark Tedeschi KC, who is representing Mr Drumgold SC, asked Commander Chew whether his choice to use the words “political interference” was unfortunate, he replied: “On reflection, yes they were.”

“They [words] could be misconstrued, but as well political interference doesn’t always necessarily refer to politics,” he said.

“The same as political correctness doesn’t specifically refer to politics, so it was an expression of the environment for myself.”

AFP acting assistant commissioner Joanne Cameron at the Sofronoff inquiry.

Mr Chew said he directed investigators to serve the brief of evidence on Mr Lehrmann without an adjudication review of that brief, because he felt the matter had dragged on long enough and he was concerned the former ministerial staffer’s right to a fair trial was being compromised by media commentary. “We had the intense media scrutiny and environment that was occurring at the time,” he said.

“The brief of evidence had been compiled throughout the investigation and the fact that we were operating in a Covid-restricted ­environment, which made a few normal practices quite challenging in relation to serving summons ­adjudicating the brief.

“And additionally, due to the commentary that was being held, the possibility of a fair trial for the alleged offender, with all the media commentary and the commentary surrounding it, would be challenging.”

Ms Higgins alleged Mr Lehrmann raped her on the couch in the ministerial office of their then boss Senator Reynolds in the early hours of March 23, 2019, after a night out drinking with ­colleagues.

Brittany Higgins, centre. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gary Ramage

Ms Higgins made allegations of rape in interviews published on news.com.au and Network Ten’s The Project on February 15, 2021, before asking the AFP to reopen the case and recording a formal ­interview on February 24.

Earlier on Friday, Network Ten senior counsel Tasha Smithies told the inquiry she attended a video meeting with The Project co-host Lisa Wilkinson and Shane Drumgold ahead of the Logies awards ceremony in 2022.

Ms Smithies said she recalled Mr Drumgold cutting off Ms Wilkinson as she read her draft ­acceptance speech and telling the high-profile television presenter he couldn’t give her advice.

“I recall Mr Drumgold cutting her off and saying words to the ­effect that he was not a speech- writer and couldn’t give her any advice on the speech,” she said.

Wilkinson‘s lawyer Sue Chrysanthou SC said her client recalled telling Mr Drumgold she was not seeking his guidance as a speech writer but as a prosecutor, to ­ensure “nothing I say will in any way cause a problem with the ­upcoming trial”.

Ms Smithies said she did not ­recall Ms Wilkinson making those comments, but said it was possible she had.

Wilkinson gave a Logies ceremony speech on June 19, prompting Mr Lehrmann‘s lawyers to successfully make a stay application to vacate the trial’s original starting date.

The inquiry will continue next week.