ACT Director of Public Prosecutions Shane Drumgold extends his leave

It is the second time the ACT Director of Public Prosecutions has extended his leave since May.

ACT Director of Public Prosecutions Shane Drumgold SC. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Martin Ollman

ACT prosecutor Shane Drumgold has extended his leave for the second time, months on from the gruelling examination into his handling of the Brittany Higgins rape allegation.

The Director of Public Prosecutions took four weeks of leave in May following five days of intense questioning at the board inquiry into the ACT’s criminal justice system, where he was grilled about accused Bruce Lehrmann’s discontinued prosecution and claims that he felt pressured not to charge the former Liberal staffer.

The 58-year-old, who has been the DPP since January 2019, was due to return to work on June 13, but last month, requested to extend his leave until June 30. He was expected to be back in his ­office on Monday this week.

In a statement, the ACT’s ­ Attorney-General, Shane Rattenbury, confirmed Mr Drumgold had extended his leave again, until August 30.

“Anthony Williamson SC will continue to act in the role during this time,” Mr Rattenbury said.

Former Liberal staffer Ms Higgins alleged Mr Lehrmann raped her in Senator Linda ­Reynolds’s ministerial office in the early hours of March 23, 2019, after a night out. Mr Lehrmann, 29, was later charged with sexual intercourse without consent. He pleaded not guilty and has maintained his innocence.

The trial was aborted in Oct­ober because of jury misconduct. A planned retrial in February was aborted because of Mr Drumgold’s concerns for Ms Higgins’s mental health.

Mr Drumgold sent a letter to the ACT’s chief police officer, Neil Gaughan, in November, alleging police misconduct throughout the investigation and the aborted trial.

That letter sparked the board of inquiry conducted by Walter Sofronoff KC, a former Queensland solicitor-general and retired judge of the Queensland ­Supreme Court and the Court of Appeal.

The inquiry examined the conduct of the chief prosecutor, as well as the police and the ACT Victims of Crime Commissioner, Heidi Yates.

The inquiry heard claims Mr Drumgold had tried to withhold police documents from the defence, “unintentionally” misled the ACT Supreme Court, read Ms Higgins’s confidential counselling notes, implied Mr Lehrmann was “really guilty in his view” when he publicly discontinued proceedings in December and failed to warn Lisa Wilkinson about the dangers of making her Logies acceptance speech after she requested his advice.

Mr Drumgold, also told the inquiry he believed it was “possible if not ­probable” that there was a ­political conspiracy to stop Mr Lehrmann’s case from proceeding, before backflipping.

Mr Sofronoff is understood to be notifying parties involved of his draft findings by Friday and will deliver his recommendations to ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr by the end of the month.

Additional reporting: NCA NewsWire