Bruce Lehrmann defamation trial live: former staffer recalls Brittany Higgins’ ‘extremely confronting’ words at Parliament House

Key events

Brittany Higgins’ father: ‘I couldn’t recognise my daughter’

Brittany Higgins’ father, Matthew Higgins, has given emotional testimony to the court.

Higgins said his daughter didn’t seem herself when he visited her in Canberra shortly after the alleged rape in 2019.

“She was absolutely quiet, quiet and withdrawn,” Higgins said. “So I couldn’t recognise my daughter. She was like, usually she’s like really positive, happy, vivacious sort of a young girl always trying to do stuff and was smart.”

Brittany disclosed the rape to him in a phone call about a year later.

Brittany told him in that phone call that the “inappropriate” behaviour she had experienced in Canberra was a rape. She did not go into detail because he believed she was “probably looking out for me a bit”.

Matthew said he was feeling very emotional giving his evidence and he does not remember specific dates.

Bruce Lehrmann’s barrister, Steve Whybrow SC, suggested he did see Brittany more than he was claiming: “I suggest to that you did see her that morning and you went to Parliament House and you walked around the lake?

“And you went to Mount Ainslie and things like that on the morning of the Saturday that you arrived there?

Matthew replied: “But that’s later. I am a surfer. I get up at 5.45 in the morning.”

After that emotional outburst, Justice Michael Lee asked Matthew to leave the court and he asked Whybrow if he could not cut short his cross-examination because the witness was emotional.

“Mr Higgins is one, pretty emotional and secondly, I don’t think he’s holding himself out as a particularly precise historian of events,” Lee said.

Updated at 00.11 EST

Higgins’ mother cross-examined about hearing that her daughter had allegedly been assaulted

Kelly is being cross-examined by Lehrmann’s barrister, Steve Whybrow SC, about her affidavit. He asked Kelly when her daughter disclosed the alleged rape to her.

Whybrow is asking Kelly to recount what Brittany said on the night at the Gold Coast restaurant and is showing her a series of photographs she took and posted on Instagram.

Whybrow asked Kelly why she asked her daughter why no one called an ambulance if her daughter did not tell anyone she had been assaulted.

Kelly said Brittany did not tell her on that occasion about the security guard who saw her asleep in the minister’s suite.

Whybrow asked: “Everything she told you was inconsistent with anybody having known that it occurred?”

Kelly replied: “When your daughter tells you she’s been raped, all you think about is why didn’t somebody help her?”

Whybrow then asked: “And just so you understand, Ms Higgins, I am putting to you that your daughter did not make the disclosures you referred to that evening at that venue?”

Kelly replied: “You’re incorrect.”

Kelly Higgins, mother of Brittany Higgins, outside the federal court of Australia in Sydney on Monday. Photograph: Bianca de Marchi/AAP

Updated at 23.27 EST

Brittany Higgins’ mother: ‘I had just been told a mother’s worst nightmare’

Kelly Higgins said her daughter Brittany Higgins eventually disclosed to her and her former partner at a dinner in a Gold Coast restaurant in November that she had been raped.

Kelly recounted what Brittany told her happened after a night out: “She recalls going inside the minister’s suite.

“She was extremely intoxicated and felt unwell. The next thing she remembers she was on the lounge and she believes she passed out she was awakened with pressure and pain on her leg and when she was coherent Bruce Lehrmann was on top of her raping her.”

Kelly said Brittany told them she didn’t want to talk about it any more and she would not tell them the name of the man involved.

“She said she didn’t want to talk about it any more,” Kelly said. “I of course, I had just been told a mother’s worst nightmare.”

Kelly said she did have questions for Brittany such as why no one helped her, and she continued to ask her.

“I wanted to know why nobody helped her,” Kelly said. “I wanted to know why nobody called an ambulance and got her to a hospital.”

Kelly said Brittany said: “There was no one to help me.”

Updated at 23.13 EST

Higgins’ mother says her daughter was ‘very withdrawn’ and ‘extremely detached’ after alleged rape

Kelly Higgins has told the court she noticed a marked change in her daughter’s personality in late March and early April 2019, although it took a while for her daughter to disclose to her what was wrong.

Brittany Higgins alleges that Bruce Lehrmann raped her in March 2019 in Parliament House. Lehrmann has denied raping Higgins and pleaded not guilty to a charge of sexual intercourse without consent. His criminal trial was abandoned due to juror misconduct and the second did not proceed due to prosecutors’ fears for Higgins’ mental health.

“Brittany became very withdrawn,” Kelly said.

“She wasn’t communicating as frequently.

“She seemed extremely detached.

“She didn’t have joy and enthusiasm when you communicated with her.”

Kelly said Brittany became non-communicative and despondent.

“She was just despondent and she was not her normal personality. She wasn’t joyous. She wasn’t wanting to communicate at all. Like I got the sense as her mum something was wrong.”

Updated at 23.22 EST

Higgins’ mother begins giving evidence

Kelly May Higgins, Brittany Higgins’s mother, is the first witness after the lunch break.

“Brittany had an incredible capacity to do anything,” Higgins said of her daughter’s personality. “She was very active. She was very physical. When she was studying her degrees, she would volunteer.

“She travelled, she did some incredible things. She had a vivacious personality, and she was loving her life and was very independent, very capable.”

After Brittany moved to Canberra in the second half of 2018, she stayed in contact with her mother largely through social media and she was really enjoying her job, the federal court heard.

Updated at 22.28 EST

Here are the two AFP officers who have given evidence today, Rebecca Cleaves and Katie Thelning, leaving court:

Australian federal police (AFP) agents Rebecca Cleaves (left), and Katie Thelning depart the federal court of Australia in Sydney. Photograph: Bianca de Marchi/AAP

Updated at 22.10 EST

What we heard this morning

It has been a morning of at-times graphic evidence in Bruce Lehrmann’s defamation trial against Network Ten.

Lehrmann is suing Network Ten and Lisa Wilkinson for defamation over an interview with Higgins broadcast on The Project and online which did not name him but alleged she had been raped by a Liberal staffer in 2019.

Lehrmann has denied raping Higgins and pleaded not guilty to a charge of sexual intercourse without consent. His criminal trial was abandoned due to juror misconduct and the second did not proceed due to prosecutors’ fears for Higgins’ mental health.

Here’s what we’ve heard so far this morning:

Federal police officer Rebecca Cleaves said she met Higgins in the basement of Parliament House to discuss what a superior had told her was a “sensitive matter” of a sexual nature. In the half-hour meeting, Cleaves said Higgins told her she remembered saying “no” or “don’t”, and remembered waking up with the “smell of sex” and “vomit stains all down dress”;

Cleaves also detailed what she wrote in her notes when she watched the CCTV footage of Lehrmann and Higgins in Parliament House, saying Lehrmann seemed “relatively sober”. Higgins was also able to “stand and walk independently”, she said;

Federal agent Katie Thelning also described the meeting she had with Cleaves and Higgins, saying Higgins said she felt “grossed out” as she could smell what had happened. Thelning also said she received an email from Higgins asking if she could have a copy of her case file “before I make that final decision” to proceed with making a formal statement. Thelning said she had no experience of a complainant asking for a copy of her case file before deciding whether to go ahead with a formal complaint;

Former defence liaison officer Christopher Payne said he saw Higgins walking past his office during the week after the alleged incident looking “very upset” and asked if he could ask her a “very direct question”. Payne then asked Higgins “did he rape you?”. “And her response was ‘I could not have consented it would have been like fucking a log’,” Payne said.

The evidence will continue this afternoon.

Updated at 22.10 EST

Court adjourned

Payne’s evidence is over and the court has adjourned for lunch until 2.15pm.

The afternoon session will hear from Brittany Higgins’ parents and her father’s partner.

Updated at 22.11 EST

Defence liaison officer told Higgins found in ‘state of undress’, court hears

Payne gave evidence that early in the week following the alleged rape of Brittany Higgins, he had been told by minister Linda Reynolds’s chief-of-staff, Fiona Brown, about an incident involving Lehrmann in Parliament House.

The defence liaison officer said Brown began the conversation with the words: “You’re never going to believe what happened”.

And Brown went on to say that Higgins had been found in a “state of undress” in the ministerial office, the court heard.

“Fiona came to what we call the DLO [defence liaison officer] room, which was the room in the suite where I was based, and advised that she had been told there had been an incident over the weekend,” Payne said.

“And then she proceeded to describe that she’d had a conversation, she didn’t indicate with whom, but had found out that Brittany and Bruce had returned to the ministerial wing over the weekend. And that at some point later on, Brittany had been found in a state of undress.”

Payne has also given evidence about Lehrmann leaving a defence document unsecured.

Updated at 22.08 EST

Defence liaison officer details Higgins’ ‘extremely confronting’ words

A warning for readers: this blog post contains graphic details of allegations of sexual assault.

Former defence liaison officer Christopher Payne has told the court he saw Higgins walking past his office looking “very upset” and asked if he could ask her a “very direct question”.

“And she said, ‘Sure, go for it’. And I remember that those were the exact words were said ‘go for it’. And I said ‘did he rape you?’ And her response was ‘I could not have consented it would have been like fucking a log’.”

Payne said her words were “extremely confronting”. “So they stuck with me,” Payne said.

“And I said to her, if you want my advice, you must go and see a doctor and you should go to the police.

“And I can help you do those things. If you want to go now, I’ll take you.

“And her response was that she thanked me for my concern and said she didn’t want to proceed with that at that time.”

The conversation took place during the week after the alleged incident, Payne said.

Updated at 22.08 EST

Lehrmann’s boss checked out his claim of new job with Asio

This morning, the court has heard that Lehrmann claimed to his chief-of-staff, Fiona Brown, that he had a new job at Asio.

The AFP officer Rebecca Cleaves gave evidence that after she interviewed Higgins, she spoke to Brown about the termination of Lehrmann from Senator Linda Reynolds’ office.

Brown told her that Lehrmann had been terminated and handed his pass in but had refused to come back into the office when directed.

Cleaves: “She said he was getting a job with Asio and name-dropped. So the chief of staff [Brown] called Asio and spoke to a person whom she knew. Confirmed he was not going to work there and … this person had never heard of him.”

Updated at 22.07 EST

Project producer sought comment on ‘sexual assault’ from federal agent

Thelning said she received an email on 12 February 2021 from a producer, Angus Llewellyn from The Project, “requesting comments and clarification on the investigation from [the] April 2019 sexual assault”. She forwarded the email to her superiors.

She also received an email from Higgins on 4 February 2021 asking if she could have a copy of her case file “before I make that final decision” to proceed with making a formal statement.

Thelning said she had no experience of a complainant asking for a copy of her case file before deciding whether to go ahead with a formal complaint.

The federal agents have now left the witness box and the court is hearing from former defence liaison officer Christopher Payne.

Updated at 22.06 EST

Higgins told federal agents she felt ‘grossed out’ after alleged assault, court hears

A warning for readers: this blog contains graphic details of allegations of sexual assault.

Federal agent Katie Thelning is now in the witness box giving her account of the meeting she and Cleaves had with Higgins on 1 April 2019.

“[Brittany said] she had been tasked with [election] campaign preparation as it was a Friday and everyone was stressed,” Thelning said.

“They had Friday drinks. A group of colleagues went, and her colleague Bruce went as well. Ms Higgins had suggested that Bruce should come; at about 6:30pm they arrived at The Dock. She, Ms Higgins, drank about four gin and tonics. About 7:30pm the others arrived. At about 10:30pm a few of them left.”

Higgins told the two federal agents that the assault was “vaginal penile sex”, Thelning said. She said Higgins felt “grossed out” as she could smell what had happened. She went into the minister’s office and was sick.

“And then she goes on to confirm that it was Lehrmann, Bruce was his name. He’s an adviser to minister Reynolds. He now works in the intelligence space and is no longer working in parliament. She had known Bruce for about a month. He is about her age. She then gave us Bruce’s phone number.”

Updated at 22.05 EST

Federal agent noted CCTV footage showed Higgins could walk independently

Cleaves has told the court that on 15 April 2019 she was briefed that Higgins did not wish to proceed with an evidence-in-chief interview, and that she had not returned calls from the ACT police or the Canberra rape crisis team.

The federal agent has explained what she wrote in her notes the first time she watched the CCTV footage on Parliament House on the Saturday morning of 23 March.

“He [Lehrmann] seemed relatively sober,” Cleeves said. “[Brittany] was able to stand and walk independently.”

Cleaves said she watched the CCTV footage but was not provided with a copy.

“We asked for a copy. We wanted to copy yes, but no, we weren’t provided with a copy,” she said.

“They were hesitant to give us a copy of the footage without an investigative purpose.

“This one [CCTV footage request] seemed to take a little bit longer and I was concerned about the time [that it] was taking, considering the nature of the allegation. And there was definitely quite a few phone calls made at a higher level to ensure that… footage was allowed to be viewed by us.”

Updated at 22.04 EST

Federal police officer recounts meeting with Higgins

Australian federal police officer Rebecca Cleaves said she met Higgins in the basement of Parliament House on 1 April 2019 to discuss what a superior had told her was a “sensitive matter” of a sexual nature.

Higgins told Cleaves a “free narrative” about what happened on the night of Friday 23 March. In a meeting which lasted about half an hour, Higgins spoke about drinking at two venues, feeling very drunk and ending up at Parliament House, Cleaves told the court.

“She wasn’t sure why she was at Parliament House and she came through the ministerial entrance,” Cleaves said.

“She couldn’t sign her name … because of her level of intoxication. And the next thing she remembers is being in [the] ministerial suite. She doesn’t really didn’t recall the walk there. And from there, she remembers waking up on the ministerial suite on the couch. And literally Bruce was on top of her participating in non-consensual sex.

“And she remembers saying ‘no’ or ‘don’t’. And the next thing [she] remembers after that is waking up in the morning alone.”

Cleaves said Higgins woke up with the “smell of sex” and “vomit stains all down dress”.

Updated at 22.03 EST

Court hears first witness

The federal court has heard that two federal agents, three of Higgins’ family members and a Liberal staffer will give evidence today.

Higgins’ father, mother and her father’s partner will appear before Justice Michael Lee to support Network Ten’s truth defence.

Australian federal police officer Rebecca Cleaves is the first federal agent in the witness box.

Updated at 21.59 EST

Federal court continues to livestream the case

This blog will cover major developments during the day. In the interests of open justice and due to significant public interest, the federal court is livestreaming this case.

You can watch the Bruce Lehrmann defamation trial live stream on YouTube here.

Good morning

Expert lip-reader Tim Reedy is due to give evidence this week about conversations between Bruce Lehrmann and Brittany Higgins, and others, at Canberra hotel The Dock on the night she alleges he raped her at Parliament House.

We are heading into what is expected to be the final week of the defamation trial which has been set down to finish on Thursday. If the remaining witness evidence has not finished by then, the court may sit on Monday, Justice Michael Lee has said.

Today’s witnesses are expected to include the Australian federal police, another Liberal staffer and members of Higgins’ family.

Lee ruled on Friday that the evidence from UK-based Reedy will be allowed – Lehrmann’s side had objected against it being heard.

Earlier in the trial the barrister for Ten, Dr Matt Collins KC, suggested to Lehrmann that he had tried to get Higgins drunk at The Dock on 22 March 2019.

Lehrmann has always denied the rape allegation and, in a previous criminal trial about the matter, pleaded not guilty to one charge of sexual intercourse without consent, denying that any sexual activity had occurred. The criminal trial was aborted.

In December prosecutors dropped charges against Lehrmann for the alleged rape of Higgins, saying a retrial would pose an “unacceptable risk” to her health.

The court has heard that CCTV footage showed Higgins consumed six spirit-based drinks in the Canberra bar, two of which were bought for her by Lehrmann.

Collins:

You were trying to get Ms Higgins drunk.

Lehrmann:

No I wasn’t.

Collins:

You were ensuring that she had a glass of spirit-based alcohol in her hands at every moment.

Lehrmann:

No I wasn’t.

The defence asked Reedy to analyse the CCTV footage from The Dock and interpret what was being said by those present.

This week will also see Ten’s news team Peter Meakin, Lisa Wilkinson and Angus Llewellyn give evidence about their interview with Higgins on The Project.