What Brittany Higgins told the court this afternoon
Higgins was back in the witness box this afternoon, continuing her evidence as Network Ten’s and Lisa Wilkinson’s first witness.
Bruce Lehrmann has brought a defamation case against Network Ten and Wilkinson over an interview with Higgins on the Project which aired on 15 February 2021 and was released online.
Ten and Wilkinson are defending the case – you can read more about their defences here.
Lehrmann has previously told the court he denied sexually assaulting Higgins.
Here’s what Higgins said this afternoon:
Higgins said she felt “hurt” that she was “just abandoned” by colleagues and employers after the alleged assault. She also said senator Linda Reynolds “actively avoided” her and “didn’t even like being in a room with me;
Higgins said she was “rebuffed” by chief of staff Fiona Brown when she asked if she could see the tapes from the multiple CCTV cameras in Parliament House;
Higgins explained that she took a photograph of a bruise on her thigh when she lost confidence in Brown’s handling of her case;
Higgins claimed Reynolds told her “I didn’t think he was capable of this” when they had a meeting at a table next to the couch on which she was allegedly raped;
Higgins said she was “distraught and upset” that someone had found her after she had been raped and they “didn’t try and wake me up and call for help”.
You can read a rundown of what Higgins told the court on Wednesday morning here.
Our wrap of Wednesday’s proceedings is below. Higgins will continue giving evidence on Thursday morning.
Updated
Evidence ends for the day
Today’s hearing of the Bruce Lehrmann defamation case against Network Ten and journalist Lisa Wilkinson has ended early due to a prior commitment and will recommence on Thursday morning.
Network Ten’s barrister, Matt Collins KC, spent the day taking Brittany Higgins through her evidence about being allegedly sexually assaulted by Lehrmann in senator Linda Reynolds’ office in 2019 after a night when she had consumed at least 12 vodkas and was “more drunk than she had ever been in her life”.
Updated
