Lisa Wilkinson blasted for Logies speech as Brittany Higgins rape trial delayed
Lisa Wilkinson blasted by former colleague after her Logies speech delayed Brittany Higgins’ rape trial, may face charges.
TV presenter Lisa Wilkinson has come under a stinging attack from a former colleague after the speech she gave at the Logies delayed the trial of a man accused of raping former Liberal staffer Brittany Higgins, amid suggestions she could face contempt of court charges as a result of her public statements at Sunday’s awards night.
Ten’s former weatherman Tim Bailey hit out on Twitter at The Project co-host on Tuesday night after the news broke of the rape trial being delayed.
“Hey Lisa, pull ya head in. I know this might be difficult, because it is a very big head. But please try. #LisaWilkinson #Logies2022 #carparkthief,” he said in a now-deleted post.
Ten News presenter Sandra Sully also liked a tweet posted by entertainment Peter Ford that included an image of The Daily Telegraph’s front page on Wednesday – the newspaper ran a photo of Wilkinson with the headline, “Hand up if you’ve caused court chaos”.
Ford also wrote on the tweet, “Imagine waking up to this front page”.
The ACT Supreme Court on Tuesday delayed the matter indefinitely, after Chief Justice Lucy McCallum said Wilkinson had failed to take the advice given to her prior to the awards night about making comments on the matter, and instead she “openly referred to and praised the complainant in the present trial”.
Ms McCallum said the significant publicity had “obliterated” the distinction between an allegation and finding of guilt.
Brisbane’s 4BC breakfast radio host, Neil Breen, who was Wilkinson’s former boss when she was at Nine’s Today show, also lashed out at his former colleague, noting Ms McCallum’s comments about Wilkinson obliterating the difference between an allegation and finding of guilt.
“As a journalist of three and a half decades, I don’t want a judge saying that about me and that’s what a judge said about Lisa Wilkinson and her unfettered behaviour, it’s disgraceful and I’m ashamed of our profession that this has occurred,” he said on air on Wednesday.
“To make it worse, Lisa Wilkinson is expected to be a witness in the case.
“The judge yesterday (Tuesday) in granting the motion to stop the trial, said ‘notwithstanding the clear and appropriate warning on receiving the award, Ms Wilkinson gave the speech in which she openly referred to and praised the complainant in the present trial’.
“What a shameful episode for the profession that I love.”
Lawyers for the accused, Bruce Lehrmann, argued on Tuesday the case was prejudiced by Wilkinson’s remarks, which, they said, endorsed the credibility of Ms Higgins’ allegations and clearly represented a “contempt of court”.
It was revealed that Wilkinson was warned four days before the events ceremony that she could hinder the trial from going ahead by speaking at the TV awards night.
"It's certainly possible that the authorities will be looking at the speech"
— Sunrise (@sunriseon7) June 21, 2022
Top lawyer Matthew Collins on Lisa Wilkinson's "ill-advised" speech at the Logies that caused Brittany Higgins' rape trial to be delayed. pic.twitter.com/XNFFFCxue7
Matthew Collins, president of the Australian Bar Association, told Sunrise on Wednesday that it is a “serious possibility” that authorities may look into charging Wilkinson with contempt of court.
“It’s certainly possible that the authorities will be looking at the speech that she made to the Logies and assessing that speech against the standard that applies in this branch of the law,” the barrister told Sunrise on Wednesday.
“That standard is, did anything that she do have a tendency to interfere with the administration of justice?”
Wilkinson won the award for the most outstanding news coverage or public affairs report for her interview that aired on The Project in January 2021, during which Higgins detailed the alleged rape by a former colleague in Parliament House in Canberra on the night of March 22, 2019.
On Tuesday, Justice McCallum said Wilkinson’s speech had “completely obliterated” the line between allegation and guilt
“The implicit premise of (Lisa Wilkinson’s speech) is to celebrate the truthfulness of the story she exposed,” she said in the hearing.
Wilkinson has since taken the unusual step of blocking people from making comments on her Instagram account where she has 369,000 followers, and recently uploaded seven photos from Sunday night’s star-studded event.
Ms Higgins deactivated her social media accounts, including Twitter and Instagram, on Tuesday.
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