Bruce Lehrmann seeks refuge in police station after fleeing Sydney following defamation loss
Bruce Lehrmann reportedly took cover in a regional NSW police station after he made a dash from Sydney following Justice Michael Lee’s finding that he raped Brittany Higgins in Parliament House in 2019.
The former Liberal staffer has reportedly made a dash from the city after Justice Michael Lee handed down his judgement in the defamation case brought by Mr Lehrmann against Network Ten and Lisa Wilkinson.
Following the ruling, in which Justice Lee found Mr Lehrmann was “hell-bent on having sex” with his former co-worker Brittany Higgins, the 28-year-old marched from court and refused to speak to media.
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By continuing you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.According to The Australian, after leaving court, Mr Lehrmann drove his car up the Sydney’s M1 motorway, with freelance photographers on his tail.
He then reportedly ditched the car in a No Stopping zone outside the Gosford Police Station, where he sought refuge before being transported to an undisclosed location.
In a statement to the newspaper, a NSW police spokesperson said a report was made at the station on Monday, “however, as the matter is not the subject of a criminal investigation, no further information is available.”
The escape from Sydney comes after Mr Lehrmann “decided not to appear” at a ‘Restoring the Presumption of Innocence’ conference in Sydney after his legal loss
Event sponsors, Mothers of Sons — an organisation founded by men’s rights activist Bettina Arndt, who has spearheaded the conference — updated its social media pages after Mr Lehrmann’s withdrawal, pinning it on an “extremely aggressive pursuit by the media”.
Mr Lehrmann was one of the headline speakers at the conference, which promised to showcase insights from legal experts and experts about how the justice system “no longer offers a fair hearing for men accused of sexual assault”.
“(The organisers) have accepted his decision, and will find an alternative presenter while ensuring that the Lehrmann case still receives appropriate attention at the conference as a powerful example of trial by media undermining the vital legal principle of the presumption of innocence,” the Mothers of Sons update read.
The $100-a-ticket conference is still expected to go ahead in June.
