A columnist at the centre of a leaking scandal over an inquiry into Bruce Lehrmann’s rape trial sent the presiding judge a meme likening him to a powerful Pulp Fiction character before he sent her an advance copy of his final report.
The chain of communications between The Australian columnist Janet Albrechtsen and former Queensland judge Walter Sofronoff KC was released by the ACT Supreme Court on Wednesday.
Mr Sofronoff chaired a Board of Inquiry – the ACT’s version of a Royal Commission – last year into the conduct of police and former Director of Public Prosecutions Shane Drumgold in the lead-up to Lehrmann’s criminal trial in 2022.
The findings against Mr Drumgold were so damning that he successfully challenged them in court, with many texts and emails between Mr Sofronoff and Ms Albrechtsen were tendered.
The judge in Mr Drumgold’s matter found that Mr Sofronoff’s 273 interactions with Ms Albrechtsen over a seven-month period gave rise to a reasonable apprehension of bias when preparing his 300-page inquiry report.
Communications between the pair show she texted him in May 2023, while the inquiry was being heard in Canberra, saying: ‘You may not realise memes are being made about you. Ones you may like.’
On June 1, she sent him a meme of himself and Winston ‘The Wolf’ Wolfe from Quentin Tarantino’s 1994 film Pulp Fiction.
The Australia columnist, Janet Albrechtsen, had a close relationship with Queensland judge Walter Sofronoff
Pictured: A meme Janet Albrechtsen sent Waltrer Sofronoff during the ACT Board of Inquiry in 2023
Emails show the pair were introduced by Hedley Thomas, a journalist at The Australian, in February last year – about a month before the hearing began.
‘Janet Albrechtsen is a lawyer and a conservative columnist for The Oz for many years,’ he wrote in an email.
‘A number of my left leaning friends find her very persuasive. In all of my experiences with her she’s been scrupulously straight and professional.’
‘I think it would be fair to speculate that Janet’s relationship with [Lehrmann’s] defence team in the Higgins case would be much more rosy than with the DPP.’
In a further text, he said Ms Albrechtsen was ‘happy to collate her writings for you and your inquiry’.
Ms Albrechtsen and Mr Sofronoff had lunch together in Brisbane in March. The following month, they had an 18-minute phone conversation and she sent him Lehrmann’s contact details.
During the hearing a month later in May, texts show Ms Albrechtsen asked the judge if she was ‘allowed to know what transpired during muted sections’.
Shane Drumgold (pictured) stepped down as ACT Director of Public Prosecutions after the Soronoff Inquiry last year
Pictured: Texts between Janet Albrechtsen and Walter Sofornoff
Pictured: TExts between Janet Albrechtsen and Walter Sofronoff
Audio in the hearing room was periodically switched off while private health matters or suppressed issues were discussed – which meant journalists could not hear those details, or report them.
Mr Sofronoff replied: ‘I’ll send you a transcript in the morning.’
He then suggested Mr Drumgold barrister, Mark Tedeschi KC, was ‘boring’.
Texts and emails also show Mr Sofronoff sent Ms Albrechtsen a number of documents he labelled ‘confidential’.
On July 12, Ms Albrechtsen asked Mr Sofronoff for ‘copies of potential adverse findings’ he might make against those who had given evidence at the inquiry to assist in her reporting, not for publication.
He replied: ‘Will do. Please email me…I’ll respond with proposed findings.’
Two days later, she texted him to say she would ‘love an embargoed copy’ of his report, asking if he would deliver it to the ACT government sooner than the July 31 deadline.
He replied: ‘Not before 31. Embargoed copy ok.’
Bruce Lehrmann is pictured outside the Federal Court in Sydney in March 2023
Ms Albrechtsen said: ‘Any draft chapters would be welcome reading.’
He sent her the final version of the report on July 31 – days before it was due to go to ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr, and a week before it was released to the public.
Once she’d finished reading it, she texted him to say: ‘I loved the section towards the end of your report on the presumption of innocence.’
She then gave him tips about how she would structure the report, as a professional writer.
‘My editor side coming in now – I’d put that up the front – when I read it, I wished I had read it much earlier – it’s an important and clear exposition of the legal principle and the form.’
The Australian published an article with all Mr Sofronoff’s findings on August 3, breaking the embargo agreement.
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