The ACT's top prosecutor has resigned, saying the fire that ignited his career has been "extinguished" by damning findings he disputes.
Director of Public Prosecutions Shane Drumgold SC addressed an inquiry's findings about his conduct in the case against Bruce Lehrmann for the first time on Sunday, as he announced his departure.
"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," Mr Drumgold said in a statement.
"Although I accept my conduct was less than perfect, my decisions were all made in good faith, under intense and sometimes crippling pressure, conducted within increasingly unmanageable workloads."
Mr Drumgold was responding to the findings made by inquiry chairman Walter Sofronoff KC, whose conclusions were revealed after he gave his report to selected journalists without ACT government approval.
After examining the case against Mr Lehrmann, who denies raping fellow former Liberal Party staffer Brittany Higgins at Parliament House, Mr Sofronoff was left "deeply disturbed" by Mr Drumgold's actions.
He found Mr Drumgold had, among other things, knowingly lied to Chief Justice Lucy McCallum about a note of a meeting with television host Lisa Wilkinson, whose Logie awards speech delayed Mr Lehrmann's trial.
Mr Sofronoff also found Mr Drumgold had "preyed on" the inexperience of a junior solicitor by having him advance a false claim in order to prevent defence lawyers accessing police documents.
"It became clear to me that, at times, Mr Drumgold lost objectivity and did not act with fairness and detachment as was required by his role," the former Queensland judge wrote in his report to the ACT government.
Procedural fairness 'denied'
Mr Drumgold was blindsided by news of the findings, which he did not receive until two days after the initial media reporting.
"The pre-emptive release of the report to the media has denied me procedural fairness," he said on Sunday.
"It has deprived the ACT government the opportunity of considering my conduct objectively."
The territory's top prosecutor ironically sparked the inquiry that led to his own downfall by writing to the ACT's chief police officer late last year to accuse investigators of impropriety.
He also raised fears of a political conspiracy involving members of the former federal Coalition government pressuring police to make the case, which was ultimately aborted after a mistrial, "go away".
At the resultant board of inquiry, Mr Drumgold resiled from what Mr Sofronoff ultimately branded "scandalous" and baseless allegations.
'A chronic problem'
Mr Drumgold defended himself on Sunday, saying his letter had been prompted by his belief that the police handling of the case was reflective of a "chronic problem in Australia".
He cited Australian Bureau of Statistics data that showed 87 per cent of women subjected to sexual violence did not report their experiences.
His desire was that the inquiry would deliver "a seminal moment in time" by examining the reasons behind this, as well as issues unique to this case, in which Ms Higgins' "most private and intimate information" had been "systematically weaponised in our media".
"Instead, the findings largely focused on myself," Mr Drumgold said.
"Systems do not miraculously self-repair.
"If people in key roles such as a DPP do not call out failings, the system becomes a self-protecting cycle of systemic failure."
Mr Drumgold described the findings as "difficult to reconcile" with comments made at the conclusion of Mr Lehrmann's trial by Chief Justice McCallum, who praised counsel on both sides for their "exemplary" conduct.
However, he said he accepted his office, the courts and the public could not have confidence in him as a result of the current publicity.
Mr Drumgold will formally depart his role on September 1, the day he was due back from a period of leave that began in mid-May.
'A fire burning within'
The silk worked as a prosecutor in the ACT for more than 20 years, and rose to become only the fifth director of his office in 2019.
He ascended to the top job against all odds, having had his initial applications to study law rejected after he left school at the age of 15 following a childhood that exposed him to alcohol, drugs and violence.
"My career has been driven by a fire burning within, lit by an early life spent surrounded by the pain of chronic inter-generational social injustice," Mr Drumgold said on Sunday.
"This fire has fuelled a life that took me from a disadvantaged housing commission estate to an esteemed leadership role within the legal profession.
"Unfortunately, I find the fire has been extinguished, and try as I might, I cannot reignite it."
'Shouldn't be a surprise'
Mr Lehrmann was not impressed by Mr Drumgold's statement.
"Given the alarming reading courageously reported by the media earlier in the week, this shouldn't be a surprise to anyone," he said.
"In fact, it is the least that could happen.
"The response from [Mr Drumgold] is not acceptable, insufficient and not worth the paper it is written on.
"The ACT government now needs to show leadership and hold the [office of the Director of Public Prosecutions] to account. If they don't, I will."
Drumgold 'acted like crusader'
Mr Lehrmann's barrister, Steven Whybrow SC, said Mr Drumgold's statement seemed to confirm "what was blindingly apparent to the defence during the trial".
"He saw himself more as a social justice crusader than an independent minister for justice," Mr Whybrow told The Canberra Times.
"This apparent 'end justifies the means' explanation for his conduct is frankly alarming coming from a DPP, a position which already wields so much opaque and unreviewable power over the lives of people who come into contact with the criminal justice system."
Position 'no longer tenable'
ACT Attorney-General Shane Rattenbury had earlier announced he and Mr Drumgold agreed the latter's position was "no longer tenable".
"The ACT government will make a detailed statement in response to the Sofronoff report early in the coming week," Mr Rattenbury said.
Anthony Williamson SC, one of Mr Drumgold's deputies, is currently acting as Director of Public Prosecutions.
