‘Maligned’ Lehrmann ‘utterly destroyed’ by rape claims, court told

afr.com:

Former Liberal staffer Bruce Lehrmann’s lawyers have launched a scathing attack on an episode of Network Ten’s The Project that interviewed his former colleague, Brittany Higgins, about her alleged rape, saying it “utterly destroyed” him.

Mr Lehrmann is suing Ten and its former star journalist, Lisa Wilkinson, over an interview with Ms Higgins that aired in February 2021. In the interview, Ms Higgins claimed she was raped in then-defence minister Linda Reynolds’ office at Parliament House in March 2019.

Bruce Lehrmann and Lisa Wilkinson arriving at Federal Law Court on Wednesday. Louise Kennerley

While the Ten interview did not name him, Mr Lehrmann has argued he was identifiable to many people from the details and allegations that were included.

Mr Lehrmann has denied the allegations entirely. He faced a criminal trial late last year, but it was abandoned due to juror misconduct. A retrial was ruled out due to concerns over Ms Higgins’ mental health.

The trial began in the Federal Court in Sydney on Wednesday, with Mr Lehrmann’s barrister, Matthew Richardson SC, giving his opening remarks.

“What happened behind those closed doors has received very significant public attention in this country. It’s the central issue in this trial … It has utterly destroyed him,” Mr Richardson said.

“My client has been publicly maligned as certainly the most prominent rapist, probably one of the most revolting predators of the recent history of this country.”

He said the episode of The Project was strategically edited to make it sound as “sinister” as possible.

Bruce Lehrmann arriving at Federal Court on the first day of the hearing. Louise Kennerley

“We say the publication that seared this allegation of rape into the national