Brittany Higgins’ mum tells court her daughter looked ‘broken’ after alleged rape

Brittany Higgins’ mum has taken the stand to tell the court how her daughter changed after her alleged rape in Parliament House.

Brittany Higgins’ mum has told the court about the changes she observed in her daughter while she was in Canberra and of the moment she confided in her about her alleged assault.

Kelly May Higgins took the stand in the trial for her daughter’s alleged rapist on Wednesday, but a non-publication order prevented her evidence from being published until now.

Bruce Lehrman is accused of sexually assaulting Brittany Higgins in the early hours of March 23, 2019. He has pleaded not guilty to one charge of sexual intercourse without consent.

Kelly May Higgins said her daughter was “excited” about moving to Canberra in 2019 and it was “everything she ever wanted”.

Ms Higgins said initially her daughter would send her a message every few weeks to let her know what was going on, as well as staying in touch via social media.

When asked if she noticed a change in the former Liberal staffer at any point, Ms Higgins said “yes”, telling the court she became very quiet and distant.

Brittany Higgins and her mother Kelly Higgins. Picture: Instagram

Ms Higgins said she also noticed her changing “physically”, saying she could see she had lost weight and “looked quite thin” from her photos.

“She looked quite broken,” Ms Higgins said.

The jury heard her daughter first made reference to the alleged assault while she was in Western Australia, though Ms Higgins said she referred to it in a “vague” way and that she had called it a “work incident”.

Bruce Lehrmann leaving court on Wednesday, day seven of the trial. Picture: Gary Ramage/NCA NewsWire

It wasn’t until later that year, in November, that Ms Higgins opened up to her mother about what she alleges occured in the early hours of March 23, 2019.

Ms Higgins told the court her daughter told her what had happened in “full detail”, including how the night unfolded and how she ended up in Parliament House with Mr Lehrnmann.

Ms Higgins said it was a “relief” for her daughter to “finally get it out and tell the truth”.

“She was almost unfamiliar in her character. She was just so frozen in what had happened to her,” Ms Higgins told the court.

“She is not the same person.”

Brittany Higgins pictured at an event with Kelly Higgins. Picture: Instagram

A younger Higgins and her mum. Picture: Instagram

Giving evidence earlier in the week, Brittany Higgins’ former roommate also described changes in the former Liberal staffer, describing her going from being a “bubbly” person to rarely leaving her bedroom.

Alex Humphries took to the witness stand on Tuesday, telling the jury Ms Higgins moved in with her at the start of 2019.

She told the court she was “lovely”, “bubbly” and excited about her new job at Parliament House.

Ms Humphries said they would often have dinner together and hang out on weekends when their work schedules lined up.

The court heard Ms Higgins’ demeanour changed around the time Ms Higgins was due to go to Western Australia ahead of the Federal Election.

“She stayed in her room a lot for the last couple of months she lived with us. It was really hard to get her out for social outings,” Ms Humphries said.

She told the court she tried to engage with Ms Higgins and get her to join in on events but she didn’t seem interested.

The former roommate said Ms Higgins began to get messier as well, noting she would come out of her room with dishes about once a week.

“When she initially moved in, she was really tidy,” she told the court.

Ms Humphries said she assumed it was “work stress”.