The following year a prospector named Daniel Browne applied for forfeiture of the lease on the grounds that it had not been worked properly by the owner.
Eventually, however, the matter came to the attention of the Attorney-General of Western Australia, Sir Walter James, who ruled that the forfeiture was not valid.
The Sun's coverage of the incident included allegations that the then minister for mines, Henry Gregory, had "robbed the prospector to reward the capitalist", and was to blame for the reinstatement of the lease.
After receiving a telephone call from the clerk of the house, Drayton did eventually attend, but refused to be sworn or provide any information, on the grounds that what he had published was hearsay.
Some members were concerned that the incident was being viewed as an attack on the freedom of the press, while others argued that the House had been too hasty in deciding to use its powers in this way.