NSW DPP spots 'significant' error in Walter Sofronoff KC's board of inquiry report

Mr Rattenbury said the NSW Director of Public Prosecutions, Sally Dowling SC, had informed him of the issue with the report, which she said mischaracterised the handling of a NSW Supreme Court case.

Board of inquiry chairman Walter Sofronoff KC wrote that, "In R v Barrett a New South Wales Supreme Court judge ordered a permanent stay of proceedings because, in her opinion, the principal Crown witness was such a 'serial liar and fabricator of evidence ... that police refused to continue taking statements from him'.

"This was a case in which a prosecutor ought to have concluded that the case was not just weak: it was a case in which there was no reasonable prospect of success because of the unanswerable problem of credibility of the crucial witness."

But Mr Rattenbury on Tuesday tabled a letter he received from Ms Dowling, setting out the issues with the way the case had been characterised by the board of inquiry.

Ms Dowling wrote that the matter was discontinued by the prosecution, which was reported in the news article, Mr Rattenbury said.

"The quotation that appears in the Report, which is purported to be the opinion of the presiding NSW Supreme Court judge about the principal Crown witness, appears to be drawn from the first paragraph of the news article. That paragraph paraphrases the views of the Australian Federal Police, and is not attributed to the presiding judge," Ms Dowling's letter said.

RELATED: Who knew what and when? How the Sofronoff report leak unfolded

Mr Rattenbury said Ms Dowling concluded, "In my view, this matter is not an example of a failure by the prosecution to identify a case where there was no reasonable prospect of conviction because of the 'unanswerable problem of credibility of the crucial witness' as suggested by the report."

The government has established an implementation committee to oversee the recommendations, and introduced amendments to victims of crime laws on Tuesday.

ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr said: "We as a country need to do better in our reporting of these matters, particularly when it comes to alleged sexual assaults and other intimately violent crimes, and recognise the real and significant human impact it has on those involved."

The ACT government formally tabled Mr Sofronoff's board of inquiry report in the Assembly on Tuesday, almost a month since it was sensationally leaked to The Australian.

Mr Sofronoff confirmed to the government he had given a copy of the report to The Australian before handing it to Mr Barr, on condition that it would not be published until the government formally released the report.

Mr Sofronoff told the ACT government he had learned, over years of experience, to identify which journalists were ethical and which ones would not "take the serious step of betraying his trust", Mr Barr said earlier this month.

Mr Barr has said Mr Sofronoff's actions in releasing his own report were a "breach of faith" and the government was considering its options, including whether Mr Sofronoff could face the ACT Integrity Commission or penalties under the Inquiries Act 1991. The Canberra Times does not suggest Mr Sofronoff has breached the law.

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