Brittany Higgins has responded to the recent report released on the inquiry into the handling of Bruce Lehrmann’s trial.
The report, which is facing controversy over its premature release by the chair of the inquiry Walter Sofronoff, found the director of public prosecutions (DPP) was right to advance prosecutions against the former Liberal staffer in relation to the alleged rape of Brittany Higgins.
It included ten recommendations to improve police policies surrounding police handling of sexual assault cases.
Higgins released a statement on social media on Wednesday, criticising the ACT police’s actions in a “literal attempt” to discredit her “as a permissible rape victim” throughout Lehrmann’s trial in October 2022.
“These police never wanted to charge my rapist, despite the fact that no-one, not even the defence, made an application contending that the prosecution was not properly commenced,” she said.
“They wrongly handed over my most private thoughts taken over years in counselling sessions at the Rape Crisis Centre to defence.
“They cast judgements about the merits of my advocacy and regularly reiterated the reasons why they thought that I shouldn’t proceed with pressing charges.”
Statement by Brittany Higgins in response to The Australian’s latest piece on the #SofranoffReport pic.twitter.com/8fx76dtIKg
— David Sharaz (@SharazDavid) August 8, 2023
Bruce Lehrmann faced a criminal trial in October 2022, following allegations of raping Higgins, his former colleague, in a ministerial office at Parliament House in 2019.
Juror misconduct caused a mistrial, but the case was abandoned after prosecutors dropped the charges in fear of a second trial impacting Higgins’ mental health.
No findings have been made against Lehrmann, who pleaded not guilty in the October trial and continues to deny the allegation.
The Sofronoff inquiry
The ACT government announced an inquiry into the handling of Lehrmann’s trial in December 2022, which would be headed by former Queensland judge Walter Sofronoff.
The inquiry looked into accusations from police and prosecutors about each other’s conduct during the high-profile case.
It concluded the former DPP, Shane Drumgold, acted accordingly in prosecuting Lehrmann, based on information available to police and the DPP.
Sofronoff found “serious findings of misconduct” by Drumgold throughout the case, as well as “mistakes” made by ACT police officers throughout their investigation. However, none of these mistakes impacted or prejudiced the investigation or the case, the inquiry concluded.
The ACT government agreed in principle to all ten of the recommendations made by the inquiry and committed to implementing eight of the ten recommendations included in the report, including clarifying a definition of the threshold required to charge a suspect, updating police processes for storing victim counselling notes and training on compiling briefs of evidence.
The findings in the 839-page report were made available to the public on August 2 after it was leaked to select media outlets last week.
In a 40-minute press conference on August 7, the ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr said he was “extremely disappointed” that the findings were reported on publicly before the ACT government could review and release it themselves.
“The government has now sought advice on whether the premature release of the report constitutes a breach of the Inquiries Act and what further action is required,” he said.
Barr told reporters the government would consider its options on whether Sofronoff would be charged for allegedly breaching the Inquiries Act in providing media outlets with the report before handing it to the ACT government.
It is understood Sofronoff provided media outlets with the report under embargo, in agreement the findings would not be published until the government released the report.
The government had intended to review the report for several weeks before releasing it to the public in late August.