Linda Reynolds blasts ‘social crusader’ ACT DPP Shane Drumgold

Former defence minister Linda Reynolds has criticised outgoing ACT chief prosecutor Shane Drumgold for his treatment of her in the witness box during the rape trial of Bruce Lehrmann.

Liberal senator Linda Reynolds. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Martin Ollman

Former defence minister Linda Reynolds has criticised outgoing ACT chief prosecutor Shane Drumgold for his treatment of her in the witness box during the rape trial of Bruce Lehrmann, and for comments he made as he resigned from the position, saying when she first read them, she “thought it was a joke”.

“If there was ever any doubt of the need for the Sofronoff inquiry, the DPP’s own statement justified it,” Senator Reynolds told The Australian. “It was clearly the voice of a social crusader, not a DPP, and it was clear to me that it was in his mind, the ends justified the means.”

Senator Reynolds gave evidence at the rape trial of Mr Lehrmann after Brittany Higgins claimed she had told her then boss she had been raped. Senator Reynolds testified that Ms Higgins had never made that claim.

During the trial, Mr Drumgold told the jury “political forces” explained the delay in Ms Higgins’ complaint to the police, and that “it is abundantly clear from the evidence and actions of Senator Reynolds during this trial that those political forces were still a factor”.

Mr Drumgold alleged strong political forces on numerous occasions during the trial.

However, Mr Sofronoff found “there was not a single piece of evidence that anyone had applied pressure upon Ms Higgins that could legitimately be described as ‘strong political forces’ ”.

During the inquiry Mr Drumgold admitted he was wrong to believe there had been any kind of political interference in the case.

Senator Reynolds said: “It sounds like the plot of a great political thriller, that these forces were at play in Parliament House, but anybody who knows anything knows there is no way that as a minister, either Michaelia Cash or I could have influenced the conduct of an investigation by the Australian Federal Police.

“It’s just such a serious allegation, it’s saying that we perverted the course of justice. Well, I think this has shown that he’s the one – by being an activist – who’s perverted the course of justice.”

In his resignation statement Mr Drumgold said he had complained about the way police handled the case because it was “reflective of the chronic problem in Australia with the way our legal institutions deal with allegations of sexual violence”.

He highlighted several statistics he said showed low numbers of sexual assault cases reported and prosecuted, especially in the ACT.

“He’s admitted that’s how he handled the case – because the numbers were low,” Senator Reynolds said. “But each case in our judicial system has to be conducted on its merits in accordance with the rules.

“You can’t just turn this into a quota to say, ‘well, my numbers are low so therefore I’m going to do everything I can to get this conviction regardless of the truth’, and treat witnesses like myself and others in a way that’s most likely to result in a conviction.

“Justice has to be blind and he lost sight of that. As Mr Sofronoff found, he was not truthful, he lied. It’s untenable for our justice system because everybody, whether you are a defendant or a complainant, you need to have confidence that the justice system is going to be objective and focused on the truth.”

Senator Reynolds said it was no excuse for Mr Drumgold to say he had come from an underprivileged background, or grown up on a Housing Commission estate.

“There can be no excuse for a DPP to lie to the judge. Statistics, background, nothing, no excuses. They’re not fit to be a DPP, because it doesn’t matter what your background is, you have to be fair and equal to everybody.”