Bruce Lehrmann pleads not guilty to car-stealing charge in Tasmania
Former Liberal staffer Bruce Lehrmann has pleaded not guilty to stealing a four-wheel drive after his lawyer raised contempt of court concerns about a media interview.
It is alleged Lehrmann took a Toyota Prado from Mountain River, a rural area in southern Tasmania, on November 20.
Lehrmann has been the subject of various court matters across Australia in recent years.
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By continuing you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.His trial for allegedly raping then-colleague Brittany Higgins at Canberra’s parliament house in 2019 was abandoned in 2022 because of juror misconduct.
Lehrmann and his lawyer Zali Burrows appeared on Thursday in Hobart Magistrates Court via phone.
According to court documents, the charge of motor vehicle stealing was brought against Lehrmann by Gail Denise Oates.
Ms Burrows told the court she was considering applying for a stay of proceedings because Ms Oates had allegedly committed sub-judice contempt of court by doing a media interview that presented a different account of events to her official statement.
She also had “concern” over a police statement made by Ms Oates in which the name of the person accused of stealing the car had been redacted.
“Police have unfairly redacted the statement. I don’t know why this is such a national secret,” Ms Burrows said.
Prosecutor Bunewat Keo noted Ms Oates had made no further contact with media and Ms Burrows had been provided with all the case-file information.
Magistrate Reg Marron said the entering of a plea would trigger the release of more information to Ms Burrows and the redaction could be discussed at a later date.
The matter was “one way or another” going to a hearing, he said.
Ms Burrows said Lehrmann was happy to enter a plea of not guilty, so the matter wasn’t delayed.
A hearing would likely take three days, the court was told.
Lehrmann’s bail was continued, with the matter to next come before the court on September 19.
Lehrmann didn’t answer the first phone call from the court, prompting a rebuke from Mr Marron, who said Ms Burrows should “make sure he is on the line”.
“We have a room full of people ready to go,” he said.
Lehrmann has appealed a Federal Court finding that determined on the balance of probabilities he raped Ms Higgins.
