Walter Sofronoff appears to make accusations against ACT's chief justice, attorney-general

The Board of Inquiry’s chair, Walter Sofronoff KC, has appeared to have accused the ACT’s two chief law officers of defending the Territory’s former top prosecutor instead of fixing issues in the legal system.

The accusations were revealed when the ACT Supreme Court released texts and emails that had been part of former ACT Director of Public Prosecutions Shane Drumgold SC’s legal fight against the inquiry.

Before the inquiry’s findings were announced by the ACT Government, The Australian reported on them on 2 August 2023 after obtaining a leaked report. Chief Minister Andrew Barr’s office said the premature release “harmed people involved”.

On 9 August 2023, The Australian’s editorial director Claire Harvey emailed Mr Sofronoff to send him “a note of support”, and Mr Sofronoff replied saying he was “grateful” for her organisation’s editorial that day.

“Their frustration at losing control of the narrative is perfectly understandable,” he said.

“The lying about being shocked that I was dealing with journalists was unforgivable.

“To me it is shocking that the chief justice and attorney-general prefer to defend their dishonest friend than address the evil wrought by a prosecutor who was eager to lie to jail a man who may be innocent. This is insanity.”

“Equally bad,” Mr Sofronoff went on to say, was the attitude of the journalists who were “parotting the government line [sic].”

“They have ensured that the public reaction they have generated will deter every future commissioner from engaging with journalists,” he said.31 j

ACT Chief Justice Lucy McCallum and Attorney-General Shane Rattenbury did not comment when contacted about the remarks.

However, Mr Drumgold told Region that the assertions made by Mr Sofronoff against the chief justice and attorney-general were “as fictional as his adverse findings against me”.

“I remain both shocked and devastated by the nature and extent of the secretive communication that would have remained hidden except for the Supreme Court Judicial Review,” Mr Drumgold said.

Mr Drumgold’s Supreme Court case finished earlier this year, with a judge finding Mr Sofronoff’s communications with The Australian’s journalist Janet Albrechtsen during the inquiry did give rise to a reasonable apprehension of bias against him.

The recent release of communications shows that on 4 February 2023, The Australian journalist Hedley Thomas, who went on to introduce Ms Albrechtsen to Mr Sofronoff, texted the chair to say his upcoming inquiry appeared to be “littered with political, legal and journalistic incendiary devices”.

“Yes, that’s true. It will be savage,” Mr Sofronoff said.

During the Supreme Court civil case, Mr Drumgold’s lawyers accused Ms Albrechtsen of writing “nasty” articles about their client.

But in May 2023, she appeared to express sympathy for him when texting the inquiry’s counsel assisting, Erin Longbottom KC.

“I can’t bear the dancing on his grave. Too many people have been damaged by this saga,” she said.

The texts show the discussions between Ms Albrechtsen and Mr Sofronoff, with her making many requests for information. There had apparently been 273 communications between the pair from 22 February to 2 August 2023.

On 6 May 2023, he sent her the statements of two prosecutors and said, “Strictly confidential. What a thing to do to two young professionals under your mentorship”.

When she asked him for an affidavit by one of those prosecutors later that day, he replied with a ‘thumbs up’ symbol.

On 25 July 2023, Ms Albrechtsen asked when she could receive a draft copy of his report under embargo. Mr Sofronoff replied, “Likely Friday”. He sent her the final report on Monday, 31 July, then also sent it to an ABC journalist on 2 August.

But when a producer from ABC’s 7.30 asked him for a copy of the report on 7 August 2023, he replied, “I’m afraid I no longer have any right to do that”.

“While I was chair, the statute gave me legal power to run things as I thought best,” he said.

There is a huge number of texts and emails from journalists from different media organisations in the bundle of documents, but none of the conversations were as lengthy as the one between Mr Sofronoff and Ms Albrechtsen.

Mr Sofronoff also received questions from journalists asking if he had leaked the report to The Australian, as well as at least one complaint.

“I wish to complain in the strongest terms about the decision to release your inquiry findings on a matter of pre-eminent public interest to selected journalists, excluding both the ACT Government and other local media outlets,” Region’s then-group editor Genevieve Jacobs wrote to him in an email on 4 August 2023.

“It’s most disappointing that the distribution of these findings was not handled with more respect for the community that’s borne so much of the cost in every way.”

After the trial of Bruce Lehrmann ended due to juror misconduct in December 2022, Mr Drumgold said he would be discontinuing his charge.

The Board of Inquiry was then launched to examine the prosecution.

Mr Lehrmann denied the allegations against him, but the Federal Court later found he had sexually assaulted Brittany Higgins on the balance of probabilities.

Meanwhile, this May, it was announced that the ACT Integrity Commission would launch an investigation into Mr Sofronoff after he gave his report to journalists before handing it to Mr Barr.

Also, last month, a freedom of information request showed Mr Drumgold had asked Mr Rattenbury to redact parts of the inquiry’s report – a request that was denied.