Bruce Lehrmann ‘to fight’ alleged car theft charge amid contrasting stories
Bruce Lehrmann is seeking to have a car theft charge dropped, after a Toyota Prado allegedly went missing from a remote Tasmanian property with a link to a local long-running legal stoush.
Bruce Lehrmann is seeking to have a car theft charge dropped amid contrasting stories about how a Toyota Prado allegedly went missing from a remote Tasmanian property.
The former political staffer on Monday appeared in Hobart Magistrates Court, via phone, charged with the theft of a grey Toyota Prado from a “middle of nowhere” property in the Huon Valley on November 20 last year.
He is yet to enter a plea, with magistrate Reg Marron granting an adjournment to allow his Sydney lawyer, Zali Burrows, to hold discussions with prosecutors.
Sources close to the case told The Australian police allegedly had CCTV footage of Mr Lehrmann filling the car with diesel at a petrol station in Huonville shortly after it was allegedly stolen.
The owner of the car, Gail Denise Oates, is understood to insist she has never met Mr Lehrmann and reported the theft after noticing the car missing from the driveway of her Mountain River property, about 40 minutes south of Hobart.
However, sources close to Mr Lehrmann have suggested the charge is the result of a misunderstanding involving someone known to Ms Oates, who gave permission for the car’s use.
Adding to the intrigue, Ms Oates, her daughter Melissa, and the family of Melissa’s late partner, Jari Wise, have been at the centre of long-running legal battles.
Melissa Oates in 2020 struck Wise with her car, in Huonville, resulting in his death.
A coroner found no evidence she intentionally did so but the case gained notoriety and resulted in a “Jari’s law” requiring coronial hearings in such cases.
Wise’s mother, Faith Tkalac, was in August 2021 found guilty of assaulting Ms Oates.
Mr Lehrmann is understood to have been based in Tasmania since losing his high-profile defamation case against Channel Ten and former The Project host Lisa Wilkinson.
The 29-year-old was in October last year spotted by The Mercury newspaper in Hobart with Ms Burrows.
He reportedly worked at a Huon winery in early 2023 and has frequented the state’s world-class golf courses.
A source close to Mr Lehrmann said he intended to contest the charge and hoped to have it dropped or settled out of court before it returns.
The associate of Mr Lehrmann – who wished to remain anonymous – also alleged police had agreed to discuss withdrawing the matter with Ms Oates.
Mr Lehrmann was arrested, charged and bailed within a day on December 2.
The source said Mr Lehrmann borrowed the car with the permission of a man on Ms Oates’ property, to help with farmwork on a neighbouring plot. The source alleged he returned the car within a full tank of diesel the following day.
Ms Oates declined to comment but is understood to have insisted she does not know Mr Lehrmann and had no idea who had allegedly taken her car until he was named in court on Monday morning.
Ms Tkalac told The Australian she too had never met and did not know Mr Lehrmann, nor anything about the alleged theft of Ms Oates’ car.
The charge against Mr Lehrmann is the latest in a string of legal matters across four different states and territories.
After a criminal trial against him for the alleged rape of Liberal Party staffer Brittany Higgins was terminated due to juror misconduct, he sued Ten and Wilkinson for defamation in the Federal Court.
In seeking to overturn the judgment, Mr Lehrmann argued his appeal was in the public interest and has so far been granted a stay on repaying Ten’s $2m in legal costs.
Mr Lehrmann is also facing separate rape charges in Toowoomba District Court.
In January he requested a judge-only trial for the matter. He has avoided public appearances at the case, for which he is yet to enter a plea.
He is alleged to have twice raped a 29-year-old woman in October 2021.
On Monday, the magistrate, Mr Marron, granted Mr Lehrmann bail on condition he not contact Ms Oates or another woman.
Ms Burrows told the court an adjournment was needed “to allow an approach” to prosecutors “to have discussions” about the charges.
Mr Marron asked Mr Lehrmann whether he understood the bail condition, to which the defendant replied: “I do, your honour.”
Ms Burrows and Mr Lehrmann were contacted for comment.
The matter will be listed again for June 19.
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