Shane Drumgold has resigned as the ACT director of public prosecutions, with the territory’s attorney general saying his position was “no longer tenable” following an inquiry into the prosecution of Bruce Lehrmann.
Drumgold will stand down at the end of this month but has disputed many of the adverse findings made against him in the inquiry by Walter Sofronoff KC, and claimed the sharing of the report to certain media outlets before it was seen by the ACT government had denied him procedural fairness.
“Although I dispute many of the findings of the Inquiry, I accept that the premature publicity surrounding me means that my office, the Courts and most importantly the ACT public, could not presently have faith in the discharge of the functions of the Director of Public Prosecutions,” Drumgold said in a statement.
Guardian Australia understands the Sofronoff report found Drumgold breached his duties on multiple occasions, including in statements made before the ACT supreme court chief justice, Lucy McCallum, in a pre-trial court hearing. It is understood the report finds police had enough evidence to charge Lehrmann, but that the inquiry also found Drumgold failed in several key duties and made “untrue” statements before a court.
Drumgold was among those who called for the independent board of inquiry, after intense media scrutiny on Brittany Higgins’ allegations and the numerous legal processes it sparked.
What is the Sofronoff report and why has it caused such a scandal? Read more
The report has not been made public, but was provided to several media outlets last week. The ACT government said the report was provided to those publications before chief minister Andrew Barr, the ACT police or Drumgold himself had seen it. A government spokesperson said they were “extremely disappointed in this action”.
In a statement on Sunday, ACT attorney general Shane Rattenbury said Drumgold tendered his resignation last week.
“On Thursday last week, I spoke with Mr Shane Drumgold to discuss the contents of the Sofronoff Report. In light of the commentary in the report, Mr Drumgold and I agreed that his position as Director of Public Prosecutions was no longer tenable” Rattenbury said.
“I can confirm that on Friday, Mr Drumgold sent a letter advising me that he would be vacating his position as ACT Director of Public Prosecutions.”
Drumgold has been on leave since May.
In his own lengthy statement, sent to journalists shortly after Rattenbury’s, Drumgold confirmed he would be retiring on 1 September. He said some of his conduct was “less than perfect”, but blasted the circumstances of the report’s disclosure to selected media outlets before it was provided to him or the government.
“While I acknowledge I made mistakes, I strongly dispute that I engaged in deliberate or underhanded conduct in the trial or that I was dishonest,” Drumgold wrote.
“The findings relating to my forensic trial decisions are difficult to reconcile with…
2023-08-06 01:33:23
Original from www.theguardian.com
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