Crucial parliament CCTV in Bruce Lehrmann defamation case disclosed to court

Crucial CCTV at the centre of Bruce Lehrmann’s defamation case was automatically wiped off the servers at Parliament House, a court has been told.

Crucial CCTV footage depicting Bruce Lehrmann and Brittany Higgins on the night she alleges she was raped has been automatically wiped off the Parliament House servers, a court has been told.

Mr Lehrmann launched defamation action in March against Network 10 and journalist Lisa Wilkinson over the 2021 coverage of Ms Higgins’ allegations in 2021.

He later also launched proceedings against the ABC over the live broadcast of a National Press Club address by Ms Higgins.

While he was not named in the report or Ms Higgins’ speech, Mr Lehrmann claims he was still identified by the media companies and that there were four defamatory meanings in their publication implying he raped Ms Higgins at Parliament House in March 2019.

He has denied all allegations.

The case has been travelling through the Federal Court since Justice Michael Lee granted an extension of time earlier this year.

Bruce Lehrmann is suing Network 10 journalist Lisa Wilkinson and the ABC for defamation over broadcasts he claims defamed him by suggesting he raped Brittany Higgins at Parliament House. Picture: NCA NewsWire/ Martin Ollman

Documents from numerous parties – including author Peter FitzSimons, publisher Penguin Random House and ABC journalist Laura Tingle – were subpoenaed and produced to the court on Monday.

Earlier this month, high-profile defamation silk Sue Chrysanthou SC demanded to know why Parliament House “did not have” some of the CCTV from the night of March 22, 2019, despite it already being broadcast in a Channel 7 Spotlight interview.

The footage captured the pair together heading to the office of their former boss, then-Minister Linda Reynolds, in Parliament House.

At a case management hearing on Monday, Justice Lee was told there no longer had to be evidence given as to why the footage could not be produced.

The court was told the Department of Parliamentary Services could not access the raw footage as it had been automatically overwritten on the Parliament House servers.

But barrister Tim Senior, representing Ten, told the court the footage that had aired on Spotlight had been produced.

“The material that’s been produced today in response to the latest subpoena, I believe, is the material that would have would have been broadcast (on Channel 7),” Mr Senior said.

The court was told there had been correspondence with representatives of the Department of Parliamentary Services and the footage was found after they “searched various servers” and that other footage requested no longer existed.

Footage from the night of the alleged rape has now been handed over to the court. Picture: NCA NewsWire/ Flavio Brancaleone

“Searches have been carried out to see whether that material was on a server somewhere, but apparently it’s not.”

Mr Senior told the court Network Ten was “satisfied” the scope of the subpoena was understood and the searches were carried out, but had produced no footage.

“We were satisfied as to why no documents were produced in response to that subpoena,” he said.

The court also heard raw footage from the Spotlight interview had been supplied.

Subpoenas were also provided from Penguin Random House and ABC journalist Laura Tingle and were read onto the record by Justice Lee.

One of the subpoenas involved discussions between Mr FitzSimons and Ms Higgins over a lucrative book deal understood to be worth more than $325,000.

A further case management hearing has been scheduled for August.

Ms Higgins went public with the allegations in 2021. Mr Lehrmann was not named in the articles subject to defamation proceedings but claims he was still identified. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gary Ramage

In May, Mr Lehrmann dropped a defamation lawsuit against News Corp’s News Life Media and journalist Samantha Maiden.

News Life Media did not have to make an apology or pay damages, and the articles of concern have remained online.

Mr Lehrmann’s Supreme Court trial in the ACT last year was aborted due to juror misconduct. He had pleaded not guilty to sexually assaulting Ms Higgins.

The charges were subsequently dropped by the ACT Director of Public Prosecutions, who declined to pursue a retrial over concerns about Ms Higgins’ mental health.

Mr Lehrmann has continued to deny the allegations.