Bruce Lehrmann faces potential 2026 trial for Toowoomba rape allegations
After dragging before the courts for three years, a date has been set for Bruce Lehrmann’s rape trial, if he’s unsuccessful in his bid to have the case permanently halted.
If Bruce Lehrmann fails in his bid to have his Toowoomba rape case dropped, he is likely to stand trial in September 2026.
During Toowoomba’s last District Court call-over on Wednesday, December 11, Judge Deborah Richards informed the court that the first trial listing for September was earmarked for Mr Lehrmann.
“I’m going to offer a number one spot on September 7 (to) October 5 to the people involved in the Lehrmann trial, if their stay is unsuccessful, so it can get out of the Toowoomba list,” she informed solicitors vying to have their clients’ trials listed.
Mr Lehrmann, who is represented by solicitor Zali Burrows, is pushing for a permanent stay on two charges of rape, which were first laid in December 2022, after a Toowoomba complainant came forward to police.
Mr Lehrmann denies the allegations.
The Crown alleges the 30-year-old twice raped the woman after meeting her on a night out in Toowoomba in late 2021, after the pair had engaged in consensual sex.
In July 2025, Mr Lehrmann withdrew a different application to have the case permanently halted, after his lawyer tried to argue conversations between his former lawyers and police were illegally intercepted.
In relation to the new stay application, on December 5, before the Ipswich District Court, Ms Burrows was successful in obtaining data reports from the complainant’s mobile phone, which was unsuccessfully opposed by the Crown.
On that occasion, Judge Dennis Lynch said the case needed to progress and set the matter down for a hearing date on February 27, 2026.
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Originally published as Bruce Lehrmann faces potential 2026 trial for Toowoomba rape allegations
