The Australian federal police has not handed over evidence from the investigation into the alleged rape of Brittany Higgins to an inquiry into how police handled the case.
Documents published by the board of inquiry after a preliminary directions hearing on Thursday reveal the AFP is yet to hand over thousands of documents to the inquiry.
News.com.au reported that the AFP raised concerns over providing some documents, telling the inquiry that a full brief of evidence exceeded 100,000 pages and that it would take a long time to “review the material”. The former judge heading up the inquiry, Walter Sofronoff KC, questioned why the AFP was reviewing it rather than handing it over.
The document table published on Thursday also reveals the AFP may hold an audio recording of a telephone call made by barrister Steven Whybrow to Det Supt Scott Moller of the ACT police on 13 September 2022.
Whybrow represented Bruce Lehrmann, who was accused of raping Higgins in March 2019 in the ministerial office of her then boss, Linda Reynolds.
Lehrmann vehemently maintains his innocence. He pleaded not guilty to one charge of sexual intercourse without consent, denying that any sexual activity had occurred.
The AFP released a statement on Thursday saying it was false that the AFP was refusing to hand over the full brief of evidence, adding that other laws were preventing the production of some material.
“As discussed at the Directions Hearing on 30 March, the AFP is proactively producing material to assist the Board of Inquiry with its important work,” the statement said.
One of the laws the AFP cited as preventing it from producing material was the Telecommunications Interception Act, which deals with the powers the AFP have to intercept calls and obtain metadata and other telecommunications information as part of its investigatory process. The document table suggests any recording of a call the AFP may have will probably be produced to the inquiry next week.
The documents also show the inquiry is still waiting for the AFP to provide over 5,000 emails related to the investigation, with a tranche of the emails expected on Friday, and the final tranche to be delivered on 6 April.
The board of inquiry was established late last year by the ACT government after a “number of complaints and allegations” about the trial. The inquiry is examining the engagement between the ACT director of public prosecutions and ACT policing.
It came after Guardian Australia revealed that the chief prosecutor, Shane Drumgold SC, complained in a letter released under freedom of information laws that police officers engaged in “a very clear campaign to pressure” him not to prosecute Lehrmann, saying there was “inappropriate interference” and he felt investigators “clearly aligned with the successful defence of this matter” during the trial.
The Lehrmann trial was abandoned in October last year, after a juror was found to have brought outside evidence into the jury room. Prosecutors decided not to proceed with a retrial as it would pose an “unacceptable risk” to Higgins’ health.
Lehrmann is now suing two news outlets and reporters for defamation over initial interviews with Higgins about the rape allegation.
