THE High Court has rejected the Crown’s bid to appeal the dismissal of charges against Jack Johnston.
Director of Public Prosecutions Tim Ellis was seeking special leave to appeal against the permanent stay on proceedings put in place by Supreme Court Justice Peter Evans in August.
Mr Johnston was suspended as police commissioner on full pay after he was charged with two counts of disclosing official secrets.
The High Court this morning rejected the Crown’s application for an appeal.
On August 5, Justice Evans ruled the prosecution had no chance of succeeding in its case.
Mr Johnston stepped down in August last year and was charged in October.
He entered an immediate plea of not guilty.
The charges were laid over Mr Johnston’s disclosure of a police investigation into potential government corruption to then premier Paul Lennon and to Police Minister Jim Cox in April last year.
At the time Mr Lennon was one of the suspects in the investigation — although the allegations were later found to be baseless and no charges were laid.
