Lawyers for former Liberal staffer Bruce Lehrmann have been granted six weeks to review hundreds of files handed over by police in his rape case. Lehrmann, 28, is accused of raping a woman twice at Toowoomba, west of Brisbane, in October 2021, with the charges currently in a committal process to determine if there are sufficient grounds to proceed to a trial. Lehrmann, who was not required to attend court, had his bail continued until the next court mention.
The former federal ministerial staffer was the subject of national media attention after being charged with the rape of 24-year-old Brittany Higgins in the office of then defence industry minister Linda Reynolds at Parliament House in March 2019 while both were employed by the senator. Lehrmann also denied those allegations and the case ended in a mistrial, with prosecutors declining to proceed with a new trial out of concern for Higgins’ welfare.