‘Hell-bent’: Inside night Brittany Higgins was ‘raped’ by Bruce Lehrmann
A judge has said Bruce Lehrmann was “hell-bent” on having sex with Brittany Higgins and was “indifferent” about consent.
Bruce Lehrmann was “hell-bent” on having sex with Brittany Higgins regardless of whether she consented after the pair “hooked up” at a Canberra nightclub, a judge has found.
Giving his findings in Mr Lehrmann’s bombshell defamation trial against Channel 10 and Lisa Wilkinson, Justice Michael Lee went into detailed findings about the night in question, March 22, 2019, before finding that Mr Lehrmann raped Ms Higgins.
Mr Lehrmann has always denied this, and prompted this court hearing himself by suing Channel 10 for an interview which he alleged outed him as an accused rapist.
Giving his judgement, Justice Lee accepted the evidence of another political staffer that the pair had kissed at the club, and said Mr Lehrmann had been attracted to Ms Higgins; putting his hands on her thighs in 88mph nightclub.
The pair kissed, the judge said, before going to Parliament House.
“He was a 23-year-old male cheating on his girlfriend, having just hooked up with a girl he found attractive,” the judge said.
“What he then wanted to happen is not shrouded in mystery.
“There was one dominant thought going through the mind of Mr Lehrmann.”
The pair had been on a night out with colleagues before the incident occured, going to a bar called The Dock and a nightclub, 88mph.
Justice Lee told the court he was “convinced” that sexual intercourse later took place between the pair back in Linda Reynolds’ office, and that Ms Higgins was unable to remove herself from a couch with Mr Lehrmann on top of her.
He said the pair were alone in the ministerial suite for around 40 minutes, and that during the night Mr Lehrmann did not answer six phone calls from his girlfriend.
Mr Lehrmann eventually left at 2.33am shortly after booking an Uber while Ms Higgins fell asleep on the ministerial couch naked.
Justice Lee commented that Ms Higgins had been drinkly heavily throughout the night, had fallen over and struggled to put her shoes on at on point.
“I think it’s more likely than not that... she was passive, as she later said, like a ‘log’ during the entirety of the sexual act,” Justice Lee said.
He did, however, say he was not convinced Ms Higgins repeatedly told Mr Lehrmann to stop, but that she was passive and unable to consent.
“Although I am not satisfied there was clear verbal protest [from Ms Higgins] ... any suggestion that some form of active resistance is determinative for the question of consent will be discarded,” he added.
“Ordinary human experience suggests that sexual assault victims vary in their behaviour.”
Justice Lee found that there was enough time in the office for sex to have occured.
“She did not consent because she was so drunk on the couch,” he said.
“In the end, it comes down to my assessment as to whether she was telling the truth.
“Her evidence that she was not fully aware of her surroundings then suddenly became aware of Mr Lehrmann on top of her... when given orally before me struck me forcefully as being credible and having the ring of the truth.”
Finding that Mr Lehrmann did rape Ms Higgins, Justice Lee explained he was making this finding by the civil standards of proof, not criminal.
This means that he believes Mr Lehrmann, on the basis of probability, raped Ms Higgins, but not beyond all reasonable doubt, as is the case in most criminal proceedings.
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Therefore, Justice Lee’s finding does not amount to a conviction.
Musing on the case, Justice Lee had remarked that “having escaped the lion’s den, Mr Lehrmann made the mistake of coming back for his hat”.
Mr Lehrmann left the court immiedately after the hearing in a huge media scrum, saying nothing as he was chased down the street.
