A 600-page report into the handling of the case against Bruce Lehrmann has been leaked to a media outlet, revealing damning findings against the chief prosecutor Shane Drumgold.

Walter Sofronoff KC headed a probe looking at how the justice system dealt with rape allegations made by former Liberal Party staffer Brittany Higgins.

A copy of Mr Sofronoff’s report was handed to the ACT government on Monday, and it was not due to be made public until the end of this month.

But The Australian newspaper reports it has obtained a full copy and on Wednesday night published its take on Mr Sofronoff’s conclusions.

The News Corp masthead said findings against ACT director of public prosecutions Shane Drumgold were damning enough to end his tenure.

The bombshell allegations included that Mr Drumgold lied to the Supreme Court and engaged in serious malpractice and grossly unethical conduct.

The Australian writes that every allegation made by Mr Drumgold that sparked the inquiry was considered baseless.

“The result has been a public inquiry, which was not justified by any of his allegations, that has caused lasting pain to many people and which has demonstrated his allegations to be not just incorrect, but wholly false and without any rational basis,” Mr Sofronoff reportedly concluded.

“The cost of a six-month public inquiry – in time and money, in lost work, and personal and professional consequences – has been huge.”

Mr Drumgold is on extended leave until August 30 while awaiting the report.

The ACT government established the inquiry after accusations by police and prosecutors about each other’s conduct during the case against Mr Lehrmann.

Among the conclusions against Mr Drumgold contained in the Sofronoff report are:

• That he made “untrue” representations to the Chief Justice Lucy McCallum in the proceedings against Mr Lehrmann
• That he failed to disclose documents to the defence that should have been disclosed
• That he “constructed a false narrative to support a claim of legal professional privilege”

News Corp writes that Mr Sofronoff’s report did reveal the decision to charge and prosecute Mr Lehrmann was the correct course of action, but that was not a reflection on his guilt or innocence.

The Wilkinson note

Mr Sofronoff also raised serious questions about Mr Drumgold’s insistence that he had warned journalist Lisa Wilkinson about potentially prejudicing the trial four days before her Logies speech.

Mr Sofronoff said a note purported to have been a contemporaneous record of a discussion between Mr Drumgold and Ms Wilkinson was actually written days after the speech.

Mr Sofronoff said the note was “nothing more than a copy of an email which Mr Drumgold had written five days after the meeting and which purported only to record his ‘best recollection’.”

Former Queensland solicitor-general Walter Sofronoff was appointed head of the inquiry, which began public hearings in May.

The probe examined how territory police, prosecutors and a victim support service handled Ms Higgins’ rape allegations.

It included 13 days of public hearings, nine witnesses and the receipt of more than 100,000 documents.

At an initial hearing in April, the inquiry heard the relationship between police and prosecutors was “beset by tension” from the outset of the investigation.

Mr Lehrmann faced an ACT Supreme Court trial in October 2022 but juror misconduct meant a verdict was not reached.

Prosecutors later dropped the charge against Mr Lehrmann because of concerns about the impact a second trial would have on Ms Higgins’ mental health.

Mr Lehrmann denies raping Ms Higgins in Parliament House in 2019.