Brittany Higgins was ‘bullied’ by investigators, according to an explosive letter from the ACT Director of Public Prosecutions.
Brittany Higgins felt ‘bullied’ by investigators, the ACT Director of Public Prosecutions claimed in an explosive letter
The shocking letter submitted to police by the prosecutor in the Bruce Lehrmann case accusing detectives of ‘interfering’ and claiming Brittany Higgins felt ‘bullied’ by investigators has come to light.
Guardian Australia’s Freedom of Information Act request revealed the contents of the letter in which ACT Director of Public Prosecutions Shane Drumgold SC criticizes police for their handling of the politically heated, high-profile affair.
In the letter, Mr. Drumgold makes the outlandish assertion that ACT Police engaged in a “very obvious effort to exert pressure” on him not to charge Mr. Lehrmann.
Mr. Drumgold further claimed that the police were “obviously aligned with the successful defense” of the defendant and had engaged in “inappropriate intervention” in the issue.
Mr. Drumgold also stated in the letter that Ms. Higgins felt intimidated by police into “dropping the matter.”
“The complainant has long voiced worries that, throughout the investigative phase, she also felt intimidated by police, who she believed were encouraging her to drop the allegation,” wrote Drumgold.
Shane Drumgold argued that police ran a “very evident effort to exert pressure” on him not to pursue Mr. Lehrmann.
Mr. Drumgold said in a letter to the ACT’s chief of police that officers were determined for Bruce Lehrmann’s defense to be vindicated and for the prosecution to fail.
According to The Guardian’s story, he said, “at least two of her support personnel have validated this observation.”
“Although this is a concern for her to discuss directly with the AFP, it is significant for our purposes since it affected the trial process, as she exhibited extreme anxiety when interacting with the police or, by extension, the DPP.”
In 2019, Bruce Lehrmann pled not guilty to a single count of sexual contact without permission with Brittany Higgins.
In October, he faced a 12-day trial in the ACT Supreme Court, which was derailed by jury misbehavior.
Mr. Lehrmann has consistently denied any sexual relationship with Ms. Higgins. With the abandonment of his retrial in February, he retains his presumption of innocence.
Mr. Drumgold’s letter, in which he alleged that police had a “strong desire” for the matter to be dropped, was reportedly sent to ACT chief police officer Deputy Commissioner Neil Gaughan on November 1, a day after the trial was canceled.
During deliberations, a juror brought outside material – a journal article about sexual assault – into the jury room.
Mr. Drumgold’s explosive letter to the ACT’s top cop Neil Gaughan (above) demanded an investigation into police conduct during the investigation and trial of Ms. Higgins’ alleged rape.
Mr. Drumgold (pictured above with the ACT DPP’s Skye Jerome during the trial) alleged that key members of the police ‘have had a strong desire for this matter not to proceed with charges.’
Last week, Brittany Higgins (seen above on her birthday last week) checked into a mental health center in Queensland. Wednesday was her 28th birthday celebration there.
Mr. Drumgold announced last week that he had decided not to prosecute Mr. Lehrmann because Ms. Higgins had been admitted to a hospital psychiatric ward, where she celebrated her 28th birthday this week.
His handling of the high-profile case has prompted Peter Woodhouse, managing partner of Aulich lawyers, a senior criminal lawyer, to call for Mr. Drumgold’s resignation.
Mr. Woodhouse told The Weekend Australian, “It appears the ACT system is irreparably broken, and there is only one way to quickly fix it and restore public faith in the criminal justice system in the ACT: resign.”
The ACT DPP was requested to comment on Mr. Woodhouse’s resignation announcement.
Ben Aulich, a partner at Mr. Woodhouse’s company, was charged with a money laundering offense earlier this year, putting the DPP and Mr. Woodhouse’s company at odds.
»Brittany Higgins, Bruce Lehrmann case bombshell: scathing letter to police«