Bruce Lehrmann fires back at Brittany Higgins after being named as Toowoomba rape accused
Bruce Lehrmann says Brittany Higgins has a ‘total disregard’ for how the justice system works after she came out in support of a Queensland woman who has accused him of sexually assaulting her.
Former Liberal staffer Bruce Lehrmann says Brittany Higgins has a “total disregard” for how the justice system works and warned his team would be “considering their position’’ after she came out in support of a Queensland woman who has accused Mr Lehrmann of sexually assaulting her.
Mr Lehrmann, who was accused of raping Ms Higgins in Parliament House in 2021, was last week named as the “high-profile man” charged with the rape of a young woman he met in a Toowoomba strip club after the Supreme Court of Queensland lifted a suppression order that had protected his identity.
The 28-year-old woman alleges she Googled Ms Higgins’ rape case and recognised Mr Lehrmann as the person she had unprotected sex with her without consent in October 2021.
Mr Lehrmann had introduced himself as “Bryce” when they met at the club, she told police, which was just a few weeks after he first appeared in court over allegations he raped Ms Higgins.
She said they had consensual sex the night they met but claims he failed to wear a condom without the permission when they had sex twice the next morning, which is considered sexual assault under Queensland law.
He is expected to plead not guilty to the charges.
Following the lifting of a non-publication order on the Toowoomba case last week, Ms Higgins posted on social media last saying her “heart broke” for the young woman at the centre of it.
“When I first found out about the alleged assault my heart broke for you,” she wrote on Instagram.
“To know that this has allegedly taken place while he was out on bail in 2021 is devastating. I note the fact you’ve decided to come forward despite seeing the horrific championing of this individual in the media all year. I am so, so sorry this allegedly happened to you.”
Ms Higgins clarified Mr Lehrmann was “charged with two counts of raping a woman in October 2021, with the case working its way through early committal proceedings at Toowoomba magistrates court since January”.
“He has not yet been committed to stand trial,” she wrote.
Ahead of a court mention for the Toowoomba matter on Wednesday, Mr Lehrmann put out a statement lashing Ms Higgins for her comments.
“The non-publication order we sought unsuccessfully last week would have ensured the subsequent prejudicial and often inaccurate reporting would not have occurred,” he said in the statement.
“In particular we have seen Ms Brittany Higgins blatantly prejudice a person’s right to a fair trial with a total disregard for how our justice system rightly operates with the presumption of innocence at its core.
“Her statement was public and widely reported.
“As such my team will be considering our position and the relief the justice system rightly has available to us now.
“The recent ACT Criminal Justice Inquiry and its findings should not be forgotten. The only verdict of any substance that’s been handed down this year was that of Mr Sofronoff’s condemnation of the behaviour of the DPP and Mr Shane Drumgold,” he said.
He was not be required to appear at court on Wednesday, but his lawyers were granted a six week adjournment to review hundreds of files from the alleged victim’s phone.
The prosecution and media outlets, including The Australian, fought in court to remove the non-publication order, arguing that it went against the principles of open justice and that Mr Lehrmann had no automatic protection under the new laws.
Mr Lehrmann’s barrister, Andrew Hoare, argued that his client had experienced suicidal ideation during the past two years and was at risk of “catastrophic” self-harm, including suicide, if the non-publication order was lifted.
The ACT Director of Public Prosecutions dropped charges against Mr Lehrmann for the alleged rape of Ms Higgins in Parliament House ahead of a potential retrial last year. A juror in the first trial was found to have brought outside material into the jury room and the matter had to be aborted.
He denies he and Ms Higgins ever had sex.
An inquiry ACT Criminal Justice Inquiry into the handling of Mr Lehrmann’s rape trial found that Mr Drumgold had lost objectivity during the prosecution of Bruce Lehrmann for the alleged rape of Brittany Higgins and “did not act with fairness and detachment as was required by his role”.
Mr Drumgold then announced his resignation as DPP and conceded he made mistakes in his prosecution of Bruce Lehrmann for the alleged rape of Brittany Higgins but rejected the key findings of the inquiry that he had lied to the Supreme Court and engaged in serious malpractice and grossly unethical conduct.
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