by WISEMOVECOURIERelationship between prosecutors and police ‘beset by tension’, Lehrmann trial inquiry hears
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The inquiry’s chair, former Queensland judge Walter Sofronoff KC, will be left to deliberate on whether the agencies involved failed to uphold their duties in handling the case.
Relations between ACT Police and prosecutors were “beset by tension from the outset”, an ACT Board of Inquiry into the prosecution of Bruce Lehrmann has heard.
The inquiry has been charged with investigating the inter-agency handling of the case brought against the former political staffer in August 2021 over the alleged sexual assault of Brittany Higgins, after chief prosecutor Shane Drumgold wrote to the ACT Police chief in November last year saying he felt pressured not to lay charges.
Lehrmann pleaded not guilty to one count of sexual intercourse without consent and has maintained his innocence. His trial collapsed last year as a result of juror misconduct, and a retrial was abandoned by Drumgold for fears of risking Higgins’ mental health.
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About the Author
Reporter @johnbuckley_
John Buckley is a reporter at Crikey. He previously covered national affairs and politics at VICE, and his reporting has appeared in The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, and The Washington Post, among other publications.
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