Settlements, ‘frustrated’ police, and deleted texts: This week in the Lehrmann defamation trial

This article contains references to allegations of rape and sexual assault.

Multimillion-dollar settlements, frustrated police, and claims of deliberately deleted texts are just some of what the Federal Court heard during the third week of the defamation trial launched by former Liberal Party staffer Bruce Lehrmann against Network Ten.

It was also a week when Brittany Higgins — who alleges Lehrmann raped her at Parliament House in the early hours of 23 March 2019 — finished giving her evidence.

Lehrmann has vehemently denied the allegation and is suing Network Ten and journalist Lisa Wilkinson, claiming a 2021 report featuring an interview they did with his former colleague airing her claims defamed him.

Settlements

Under cross-examination on Tuesday, Higgins said she had received $1.9 million from a settlement with the Commonwealth over alleged breaches of its duty of care relating to the events during and after the alleged rape.

That was lower than the $2.445 million revealed in documents released by the Federal Court on Thursday. However, Higgins on Tuesday estimated it to be about $2.3 million in total, which she said came to $1.9 million after taxes and legal fees were paid.

Federal Court documents released on Wednesday revealed Lehrmann settled a defamation suit against News Corp for $295,000.

Lisa Wilkinson (right) and her barrister Sue Chrysanthou SC during a break at the Federal Court of Australia in Sydney on Friday. Source: AAP / Bianca De Marchi

He brought the case over a 2021 article by news.com.au political editor Samantha Maiden titled Young Staffer Brittany Higgins says she was raped at Parliament House. The article, which did not name Lehrmann, was the first to detail Higgins’ rape allegations.

Court documents released that same day showed Lehrmann reached a $150,000

, $143,000 of which went to his solicitor’s trust account while $7,000 was paid to solicitors acting for ABC journalist Laura Tingle.

The settlement ended the defamation action Lehrmann had launched against the ABC over its broadcast of a joint National Press Club speech by Higgins and Grace Tame in 2022 — an event Tingle hosted. While Lehrmann was not named, he alleged he was identifiable.

The payment to Tingle was to cover her legal expenses, having been required to produce documents for the case under a subpoena.

Frustrated police

The Federal Court on Friday heard the Australian Federal Police (AFP) faced a “frustrating” process when trying to obtain CCTV footage of Higgins and Lehrmann entering Parliament House before she was allegedly raped.

Detective Senior Constable Sarah Harman described how she and others at the AFP tried to retrieve the vision in the weeks and months after Higgins told them of the alleged sexual assault.

“It was frustrating,” she said while giving evidence at a defamation trial in the Federal Court on Friday.

“I’ve never encountered such pushback on obtaining CCTV before and it was incredibly frustrating for me.”

Police were told the footage could not be handed over after the election was called on 11 April 2022, and the government went into caretaker mode.

The video was eventually obtained and has been played during the court case.

Bruce Lehrmann’s barrister Steven Whybrow pictured in October 2022. Source: AAP / Mick Tsikas

Rape trial ‘blow up’ claim rejected

Higgins’ impassioned speech she gave after

in Lehrmann’s rape trial

, the Federal Court was told on Tuesday during her final day giving evidence.

Lehrmann’s barrister Steven Whybrow SC suggested the speech, given by Higgins to a throng of media on the steps of the ACT Supreme Court in October 2022, was made to prevent a further criminal trial.

“When you gave that speech it was designed to blow up a retrial,” Whybrow said.

“Wow, oh no not at all,” Higgins said, laughing.

Higgins denies ‘deliberately’ deleting texts

Higgins was grilled by Lehrmann’s legal team about missing messages from her phone while on the stand on Tuesday.

She admitted deleting one photograph of her in a Make America Great Again hat from her phone before she handed the device over to police during their investigation into the alleged sexual assault.

“It was something I was really ashamed of and I deleted it,” Higgins told Federal Court Justice Michael Lee.

Brittany Higgins leaves the Federal Court on Tuesday, a day on which she told the court she had not deliberately deleted text messages from her phone. Source: AAP / Dean Lewins

Whybrow claimed Higgins had done more than erase the single photo before handing her phone to police, pointing to a number of other messages later found missing from her phone.

These included messages she had sent to two men she said she had matched with on dating apps at the time, and her former boyfriend and Parliament House colleague Ben Dillaway.

Higgins denied deleting these messages intentionally because they would have contradicted her claims she was sexually assaulted.

The messages had been lost when she changed devices over the years, moved to a different iCloud account, or had been accidentally deleted, the court heard.

“I wasn’t thinking of maintaining contemporaneous evidence. It wasn’t in my mindset,” Higgins told the court.

Higgins in ‘tug of war’ between job and rape complaint

Higgins was distressed because she felt she could not retain her parliamentary job if she reported her alleged sexual assault to police, the Federal Court heard on Friday.

Catherine Cripps was a rape crisis counsellor who attended a “meet and greet” with Higgins and AFP officers on 8 April 2019, about two weeks after the alleged rape occurred.

Giving evidence in a defamation trial on Friday, Cripps said Higgins showed distress both at the meet and greet and in subsequent counselling sessions during 2020.

“It wasn’t so much reporting – she desperately did want to report it but she felt she wanted her job more,” she told the court

“There was a terrible conflict, a real tug of war.”

The trial continues next week.

If this story has raised any issues for you, help is available at Lifeline on 13 11 14.

If you or someone you know wants to talk about sexual assault or harassment, family or domestic violence, call 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732 or visit www.1800RESPECT.org.au

In an emergency, call 000.

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