Sofronoff Inquiry: Political pressure a worry, says ACT DPP Shane Drumgold SC

Shane Drumgold explosively claimed former senior Liberal ministers could have exerted pressure on police investigating Brittany Higgins’ rape allegations to stop the case.

Shane Drumgold SC at a public hearing of the ACT’s Board of Inquiry into the Criminal Justice System, at the ACT Civil and Administrative Tribunal Canberra.

ACT chief prosecutor Shane Drumgold has explosively claimed that former senior Liberal ministers, including Linda Reynolds and Michaelia Cash, could have exerted pressure on police investigating Brittany Higgins’ rape allegations to stop the case proceeding.

In another day of dramatic hearings at the Sofronoff Inquiry, the Director of Public Prosecutions claimed there may have been a political conspiracy to “make the matter go away”.

Inquiry chair Walter Sofronoff KC asked Mr Drumgold if he believed there was a “political conspiracy to stop the case”.

“I have not formed a view solidly one way or another, but I thought there was enough incidences to make it possible, if not probable,” Mr Drumgold replied.

Former Liberal Party staffer Brittany Higgins accused Bruce Lehrmann of rape. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gary Ramage

Counsel assisting the inquiry Erin Longbottom drew Mr Drumgold’s attention to a letter he had written to ACT Police Chief Neil Gaughan asking for an inquiry into the conduct of police during the investigation and the trial of Bruce Lehrmann.

“What I’m really looking at is, is there a connection between Reynolds and the police,” Mr Drumgold replied.

“Primarily, I’m trying to keep the police out of the courtroom because of an event that occurred during the course of the trial that raised concerns about … I wanted to put protections around the complainant.”

Ms Longbottom pointed out that Mr Drumgold had asked Mr Gaughan for a direction that police, including police witnesses, have no further contact with the defence team.

“Well, I’ve got in my mind political witnesses,” Mr Drumgold replied.

Ms Longbottom: “What do you mean by that?”

Mr Drumgold: “Senator Reynolds, Senator (sic) Cash … because I’m concerned, one of the questions I’m raising is, is there a connection between federal interference with ACT ­policing, that’s the primary concern that I have.

“Some of the questions in my mind hypothetically were, was this a matter of a government minister exerting pressure through the federal commissioner onto ACT policing to make a matter go away?”

Mr Sofronoff: “Why would you think that?”

Mr Drumgold: “I’m looking at the circumstantial strands. I’m looking at enthusiastic engagement by a senator.

Mr Lehrmann has strenuously denied the rape claim. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Martin Ollman

“And I’m looking at unprecedented pressure being placed on me and the unprecedented passion that a number of police held that this matter shouldn’t proceed, and a number of other factors. There were just enough circumstantial strands in my mind to justify an investigation into them.”

Mr Drumgold’s suggestion of political interference was rejected by Senator Reynolds as baseless and without any foundation.

In a statement issued late on Wednesday, she said she had never exerted political pressure on the AFP in the conduct of the investigation or interfered in the investigation, and considered the suggestion “an affront to my reputation”.

“In fact, it was me who referred Ms Higgins to the AFP on 1 April, 2019, following a meeting I had with her and Ms Brown in my office,” Senator Reynolds said, referring to her then chief of staff Fiona Brown.

“The suggestion by Mr Drumgold SC in his evidence today continues a theme that was propounded by the DPP in the trial that my actions were politically motivated. This was rejected by me during the trial and this remains the position.”

Ms Longbottom said Mr Drumgold’s letter to Mr Gaughan contained “very serious allegations”. Mr Drumgold said police were “purporting to seek my advice” about prosecuting but really just wanted him to ­support their view not to charge Mr Lehrmann.

Liberal senator Linda Reynolds leaves the ACT Supreme Court in October 2022. Picture: AAP

“It was seeking my imprimatur to not proceed to charge. By the time we got to the request for advice, it had escalated to saying ‘of course you can’t proceed, she’s manipulative and you can’t proceed with a manipulative (complainant)’ so we’re not dealing with subtle words.”

Mr Drumgold’s statement to the inquiry detailed his observations of police regularly conferring with the defence team during the breaks at Mr Lehrmann’s trial in October but ­ignoring the prosecution team.

He said the behaviour of police bothered him because “in my observation, police had a passion for this prosecution to fail”.

“My concern was there were so many strange things that had occurred, and whether or not they were connected. So was there a connection between the passion with which a number of police held that this matter shouldn’t proceed?

“Then disclosures of other documents that shouldn’t have been disclosed?

“Then questions around people being called in who had other functions, called in to give evidence, and Senator Reynolds’ engagement.

“The question in my mind was, are those things connected?”

Ms Longbottom suggested that at the time of penning the letter to Mr Gaughan, Mr Drumgold had “lost objectivity”.

“This was such a remarkable case that with so many remarkable moving pieces it stood out as being of concern or potentially those moving pieces being connected,” Mr Drumgold said

Mr Drumgold said that during the inquiry his team had ­“effectively closed ranks” and stopped communicating with police.

Mr Sofronoff asked why police speaking to defence lawyers was an “anomaly” or suspicious, and pointed out even if police were conferring with defence, there was nothing police could tell defence that would be helpful without it also being disclosed to the prosecution.

“I’m completely blind as to what’s going on,” Mr Drumgold said. “What I’m seeing is what’s breaking the surface, and I don’t know what’s happening underneath the surface.

“I’ve had a year and a half of starting from the outset of police passionately telling me to agree with them that this matter shouldn’t proceed.”

Mr Drumgold said he made a public statement linking the abandonment of a retrial of the case against Mr Lehrmann to concerns for Ms Higgins’ mental health because he wanted the media to “give her a break”.

He agreed he “probably shouldn’t have made the statement” and was “naive” to think his comments would dissuade journalists from the story.

When asked if he had considered the impact of his speech on Mr Lehrmann, Mr Drumgold said he had sympathy for everyone involved in every case.

Additional reporting: Remy Varga