A former Labor MP and her husband accused of blackmailing South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas have had the charges against them withdrawn.
Annabel Digance and Greg Digance pleaded not guilty to blackmail last year.
The couple had been accused of threatening to make allegations of misconduct in 2020 against Mr Malinauskas, who was then Labor leader but in opposition.
They were ordered to stand trial, but the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) withdrew the charges against them this afternoon.
Mr Malinauskas expressed relief at the outcome.
"I'm particularly relieved that this matter has now been resolved in a way that delivers an outcome that I've wanted from the very beginning," he said.
The Strathalbyn couple was arrested in April 2021 and they were due to go on trial in the District Court this year.
Likely witnesses would have included Mr Malinauskas who, according to court documents, was secretly fitted with a wire by detectives to record an interaction at the ALP state headquarters with the Digances prior to their arrest.
"Should a trial have gone ahead I would have participated in it willingly — I made that known. But that doesn't mean it was necessarily my preference," Mr Malinauskas said today.
"The prospect of a really big, potentially lengthy trial, is something I wasn't looking forward to but I acknowledge I had a duty to participate in it should that be required."
Mr Malinauskas said the decision to discontinue the case had been made by the DPP.
Mr Malinauskas said he had had a "statutory obligation" to report the matter to police in the first place, but said that a trial "would have been a distraction, absolutely".
"I'm just focusing on the future," he said.
The Digances' lawyers had previously sought to get the case thrown out, arguing there was no case to answer.
In a statement released today, the couple thanked those who supported them "over these past two horrendous years".
"We have always maintained our innocence in relation to this charge," she said.
"The resolution reached today is one which will allow us to move forward with our lives and put an end to this prosecution."
Ms Digance was the Labor MP for the suburban Adelaide seat of Elder from 2014 until 2018.
She and Mr Digance unsuccessfully ran as candidates for the South Australian upper house at the 2022 state election.
