Inside Bruce Lehrmann’s relaxed new life at a Tasmanian winery after Brittany Higgins saga

Bruce Lehrmann, who was once accused of raping Brittany Higgins, has a new life picking grapes at a boutique winery in Tasmania, after prosecutors sensationally dismissed the case against him.

Lehrmann was accused of sexually assaulting Higgins, his former colleague, in Parliament after a night out in Canberra in March 2019.

He pleaded not guilty and endured a nearly four-week trial at the ACT High Court in October. However, the trial was aborted due to the misconduct of a juror.

On 2 December, the ACT Director of Public Prosecutions announced that he would not proceed with a second trial for fear that it might be detrimental to Ms Higgins’ mental health.

Despite appearing in court every day during the trial, Mr. Lehrmann disappeared from public view immediately after the trial ended in early November.

It was previously reported that Mr. Lehrmann has spent the past few years holed up in his home, afraid to come out for fear outsiders will recognize him as an accused rapist.

However, Daily Mail Australia can now reveal that the former Liberal staffer has been living and working on a nine-acre property in the outback of the island state.

Bruce Lehrmann (pictured) has been living and working in a winery in the Tasmanian outback.

The trial against Bruce Lehrmann (pictured outside court) was derailed by juror misconduct and prosecutors dropped the charges citing Ms Higgins’ health.

A photo posted to Facebook in March of last year, seven months before the trial, showed Mr. Lehrmann smiling with a group of his peers, who had just finished choosing a batch of sparkling pinot.

In December, Daily Mail Australia revealed that Mr Lehrmann’s family was his lifeline during the trial – flying to Canberra to support his only child.

She was intentionally shielded from the media and did not go to the courtroom, instead staying with him in his temporary quarters, preparing his meals, and giving him a shoulder to lean on.

“She was probably one of the key reasons he was able to keep his head through the trial,” a source said.

During his initial interview with police last year, which appeared in court in October, Lehrmann said he grew up in a “small family unit.”

Brittany Higgins (pictured outside ACT Supreme Court) alleged that Bruce Lehrmann raped her in parliament in a TV interview about the Project

His father died when he was two years old, leaving his mother to raise him and his sister on welfare.

His sister has since moved to the US, but sources say she supports him from afar.

A week after the trial was dropped, Mr Lehrmann retained one of Australia’s most respected libel law firms, Mark O’Brien Legal.

It is understood that the intent was to file lawsuits against various media companies and Twitter identities, including Lisa Wilkinson, the producer behind The Project (Rove McManus’s Roving Enterprises), Network Ten and parent company Paramount.

ABC was also expected to be in the firing line for comments made during the National Press Club’s February 2021 appearance during a speech by Ms Higgins and Grace Tame.

Lead counsel, Paul Svilans, previously told Daily Mail Australia that his firm was looking to assess whether there was an ‘actionable’ matter.