Posted by 
The board responsible for the inquiry into the criminal justice system’s handling of Bruce Lehrmann’s prosecution for the alleged rape of Brittany Higgins leaked the report to the media ahead of its scheduled release.
The report by the inquiry, which was headed by a board including Supreme Court judge Walter Sofronoff KC, was allegedly leaked to certain media outlets including The Australian “under an embargo”, an ACT government spokesperson confirmed.
“The ACT government is disappointed that the Sofronoff Board of Inquiry Report has been released to select media outlets,” the spokesperson said.
“The release of information about the Inquiry outside of the government procedures has affected the inquiry process and harmed people involved.
“It further contributes to the ongoing public discussion of the matter that has been very difficult for all of the individuals impacted.
The ACT said it was confident the report, either in draft or final form, was not obtained by the media from the government.
The government has sought advice from the board of inquiry, which has confirmed it provided a copy to some media outlets under an embargo.
“This release was not authorised by or communicated to government prior to this release.”
The spokesperson said the government would release the report formally along with the interim response to recommendations early next week instead of in a month’s time.
The probe reportedly found ACT Director of Public Prosecutions Shane Drumgold had “lost objectivity” during the prosecution of Lehrmann for the alleged rape in Parliament House of Higgins.
The jury in that trial was discharged after juror misconduct and Drumgold elected not to pursue a retrial, citing concerns for Higgins’ health.
Lehrmann has always maintained his innocence.
He released a statement today after the report was leaked to the media.
“Much of what we are reading my brilliant criminal defence team led by Steve Whybrow SC suspected all along,” the statement said.
“I owe everything to the lawyers who have surrounded me.
“This is overwhelming and alarming reading.
“It is a credit to Mr Sofronoff and his team for pulling back the covers and exposing what really is a dark chapter for the ACT justice system.
“I will have more to say in due course as the full report is made public by the Chief Minister.”
The report, the Australian has reported, found Drumgold made “untrue” representations to Chief Justice Lucy McCallum during the Lehrmann prosecution and committed a “serious breach of duty” by failing to disclose police documents.
“The result has been a public inquiry, which was not justified by any of his allegations, that has caused lasting pain to many people and which has demonstrated his allegations to be not just incorrect, but wholly false and without any rational basis,” Sofronoff wrote, according to the newspaper.
“The cost of a six-month public inquiry – in time and money, in lost work, and personal and professional consequences – has been huge.”
The ACT government spokesperson confirmed the ACT Attorney-General is in contact with Drumgold in relation to the report’s findings.
“The individuals identified in the report and affected by its findings must be afforded procedural fairness, including the director of public prosecutions,” the spokesperson said.
