The ACT's attorney-general says Shane Drumgold's role as director of public prosecutions is 'no longer tenable' and he has accepted his resignation.
The trial of Mr Lehrmann, who was accused of raping his former colleague Brittany Higgins in Parliament House in 2019, was eventually abandoned late last year after a juror engaged in misconduct.Mr Drumgold's allegations of interference sparked a board of inquiry — an investigation akin to a royal commission — though he later conceded his suspicions were wrong.But he believed it was "most likely a skills deficit" among police that explained his concerns.
The report, which the ABC has seen, accuses Mr Drumgold of generating the inquiry on the basis of "scandalous" and "wholly false" allegations, "without any reasonable basis".when discussing legal advice given to journalist Lisa Wilkinson about a Logies speech. He said he had hoped the inquiry would investigate systemic failings in the ACT criminal justice system that stymied sexual violence prosecutions."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.