DPP Shane Drumgold accuses police of interference in Bruce Lehrmann trial

Shane Drumgold, the ACT Director of Public Prosecutions, has accused the AFP of ‘inappropriate interference’ in the rape trial of Bruce Lehrmann.

Shane Drumgold alleges police engaged in ‘a very clear campaign” to pressure him not to prosecute Bruce Lehrmann. Picture: Martin Ollman

The increasingly bitter row between ACT Director of Public Prosecutions Shane Drumgold SC and the Australian Federal Police over the rape trial of Bruce Lehrmann has exploded into open warfare, with the chief prosecutor demanding an inquiry into “inappropriate interference” in the case by police.

In a letter to ACT police chief Neil Gaughan, Mr Drumgold ­alleges that police engaged in “a very clear campaign” to pressure him not to prosecute Mr Lehrmann over the alleged rape of Brittany Higgins.

But in a further escalation of the crisis on Thursday evening, the Australian Federal Police Association accused Mr Drumgold of attempting to “smear” the AFP.

In Mr Drumgold’s Nov 1 letter, sent just after the trial was aborted because of juror misconduct, the chief prosecutor calls for a public inquiry to examine “both pol­itical and police conduct” in the case.

Bruce Lehrmann. Picture: Gary Ramage

“There has now been over one-and-a-half years of consistent and inappropriate interference by investigators, firstly directed towards my independence with a very clear campaign to pressure me to agree with the investigators’ desire not to charge, then during the conduct of this trial itself, and finally ­attempting to influence any decision on a retrial,” he wrote.

The release of the letter comes on the heels of revelations by The Australian that police ­had believed there was in­sufficient evidence to prosecute Mr Lehrmann but could not stop the DPP from doing so because “there is too much political ­interference”.

Mr Drumgold was reported to have expressed “serious concern about the potentially unlawful sharing of police material” after publication of the documents by The Australian.

Some lawyers now believe that Mr Drumgold’s position is untenable, with the breakdown of his relationship with police likely to have a damaging effect on the administration of justice in the ACT.

Mr Lehrmann pleaded not guilty in a trial in Canberra that was aborted due to juror misconduct. He has repeatedly stated his innocence and says he never had sexual contact with Ms ­Higgins.

Mr Drumgold alleges in his letter that “key AFP members have had a strong desire for this matter not to proceed to charge”.

Mr Drumgold claimed in his letter, which was obtained by The Guardian through Freedom of Information laws, that police had used “blatant misrepresen­tations of evidence such as ­suggestions that key evidence was delib­erately deleted by the com­plainant, a proposition not supported by the tested evidence at trial, as well as a list of evidence that is clearly inadmissable in trial”.

Brittany Higgins. Picture: Gary Ramage

He alleged that during the investigation, Ms Higgins felt pressured and bullied by police, “who she felt were pressuring her into discontinuing the ­complaint”.

Mr Drumgold also alleged inappropriate contact by police with Mr Lehrmann’s defence team during the trial, with detectives meeting his lawyers during breaks in the proceedings, and that the defence team had asked police directly to conduct further investigations into some issues.

One instance of collaboration was discovered by prosecutors, Mr Drumgold said, when prosecutors received an email from an investigator about a piece of evidence noting: “The bosses just want to confirm it has been seen and passed on to defence.”

Just 16 minutes later, according to Mr Drumgold, the investigator tried to recall the email and replace the words “The bosses just want to confirm” with “I’m just checking”.

Leading Canberra criminal lawyer Peter Woodhouse, who has called for Mr Drumgold’s resignation, said the public “could not have any faith that the criminal justice system in the ACT is going to function properly”.

Mr Woodhouse said that because the ACT police force and the DPP office were small, the breakdown in the relationship meant there was “nowhere to hide”. “It is only a matter of time before that spills over and impacts other serious criminal matters in the Territory,” he said.

On Thursday night Australian Federal Police AssociationPresident Alex Caruana said that a full judicial inquiry was “an absolute necessity”, possibly also accompanied by a referral to the ACT Integrity Commission or the Commonwealth Ombudsman if the inquiry finds any misconduct.

Any inquiry must also assess the conduct of Mr Drumgold, the DPP, the ACT Victims of Crime Commissioner, and ACT Attorney-General Shane Rattenbury, as well as issues causing delays in the trial and subsequent mistrial, Mr Caruana said.

Mr Caruana complained the letter from the ACT DPP, released under Freedom of Information laws, “to our knowledge, has no redactions, and it includes personal details of officers involved in the investigation.

“The AFPA will make a formal complaint to the Office of the Australian Information Commission and the ACT Ombudsman regarding the possibility of FOI breaches and misconduct by the Director of Public Prosecutions,” he said.

Mr Caruana questioned why the matter progressed to trial if the initial brief didn’t contain the evidence required for a reasonable chance of conviction.

“If the brief didn’t contain enough evidence and there were legitimate concerns about how what evidence was there was obtained, then why did he continue with the trial? Mr Drumgold needs to explain this.”

An ACT Policing spokes­person said that as Mr Drumgold had requested a public inquiry into the matter, “it would be in­appropriate to provide any further comment in relation to any aspects surrounding this matter including commentary about the letter from the ACT DPP”.

Mr Drumgold did not respond to The Australian’s requests for comment.