Brittany Higgins has accused police of “absolutely awful” treatment of her while investigating her allegations of rape, saying she felt belittled and violated.
The allegations have prompted a response by the police union, which said ACT Policing was right to apologise to Higgins for its mistakes, but that the inquiry had also caused profound harm to investigators and their families, who were passionate and committed to their jobs and to helping victims.
Higgins was responding to a story in The Australian overnight detailing the significant impact of allegations made by the director of public prosecutions, Shane Drumgold SC, about the investigative team, which their lawyer, Calvin Gnech, said had caused profound damage to their careers and personal lives.
Higgins said police had repeatedly told her why they thought her allegations should not proceed to court and prepared a “fun folder full of unfounded claims in a literal attempt to discredit me” to prosecutors.
She also said they had wrongly handed over her private counselling notes to the defence team of Bruce Lehrmann, something police have apologised for.
Higgins was also critical of findings that police did not know the proper test for when to lay criminal charges.
“They wrongly handed over my most private thoughts taken over years in counselling sessions at the Rape Crisis Centre to defence,” Higgins said. “And by Walter [Sofronoff]’s own admission didn’t know the threshold for charging in sexual offences. These men were absolutely awful to me. They made me feel violated at every turn.”
The Sofronoff inquiry’s report said police had made a series of mistakes but that there was no misconduct. It found that investigators had “performed their duties in absolute good faith, with great determination although faced with obstacles, and put together a sound case”.
The Australian Federal Police Association president, Alex Caruana, said police were right to acknowledge their mistakes and apologise to Higgins. But responding to Higgins’ statement, he urged for more consideration before making hurtful allegations against anyone involved in the investigation and inquiry.
“There are no winners from this investigation and inquiry,” he said. “This investigation and subsequent inquiry have hurt and damaged many people. In a perfect world, that wouldn’t happen, but as we all sadly know, a perfect world isn’t reality.”
He said the AFPA stood by the investigative team and officers who gave evidence at the inquiry, saying it knew how much of an impact the process had had on them and their families.
“They are all passionate about being police officers, protecting the community and putting people before a judicial process if required,” he said. “Police can’t control what a jury member does, nor can they control how a judicial process will conclude.”
Higgins said in her statement that she had felt belittled by police, who regularly “cast judgements about the merits of my advocacy and regularly reiterated the reasons why they thought that I shouldn’t proceed with pressing charges”.
“I do not celebrate the misfortune of others,” she said. “However, these officers were disgraced by their conduct not by the DPP.”
The inquiry found that there was sufficient evidence to lay charges and that the prosecution was properly brought.
That does not indicate the guilt or innocence of Lehrmann, who pleaded not guilty at trial and has consistently maintained his innocence. The first trial was aborted due to juror misconduct. The second did not proceed due to fears about Higgins’ mental health.
Drumgold’s allegations against police were first made public in a letter written to chief police officer Neil Gaughan, released to the Guardian through freedom of information laws.
The inquiry found the letter should not have been released without further scrutiny and described its allegations as baseless.
ACT Policing and Gnech were approached for comment. Gaughan released a statement on Tuesday saying that a new guide to help police determine whether a charge should be laid is being prepared and additional training is being provided to sexual assault investigators.
“Every investigation presents individual challenges and sexual assault investigations can be complex. This investigation was no exception,” he said.
“I am pleased Chair Walter Sofronoff KC has recognised the professionalism and dedication of all ACT Policing officers involved in this investigation, particularly that they ‘performed their duties in absolute good faith, with great determination although faced with obstacles and put together a sound case’.”
