Bruce Lehrmann ‘victim survivor’ tattoo: Viral photo is confirmed as genuine and tattooed man is a former police officer

A Bruce Lehrmann supporter with a huge tattoo of the rapist’s face on his shoulder has been identified as an ex-police officer from Western Australia.

On Monday, Federal Court Judge Michael Lee ruled on the balance of probabilities that Lehrmann raped Brittany Higgins at Parliament House on March 23, 2019.

The damning finding marked the end of Lehrmann’s defamation lawsuit against Network Ten and Lisa Wilkinson – and also put an end to the long-held question of whether or not Ms Higgins had been raped.

He was labeled a rapist by the civil court and was undoubtedly the biggest loser of the trial.

But following closely behind could be a man who made the lifelong decision to have a portrait of Lehrmann inked on his upper arm.

The tattoo appears to be based on a photo Lehrmann took outside the ACT Supreme Court during his 2022 criminal trial, but which was withdrawn due to juror misconduct.

Surrounding the portrait are the words ‘real victim’ and ‘survivor’.

Pictured: a tattoo of Bruce Lehrmann’s face. Mr Macgowan revealed the tattoo is on the arm of a police officer

Within about an hour of Judge Lee’s findings being announced on Monday, Lehrmann’s former media adviser John Macgowan went to X and revealed that the tattoo – which has gone viral online – is real.

“This can’t be real, can it?” one user asked.

Mr Macgowan replied: ‘It’s not just real that I found the man who got it and he’s a cop.’

Daily Mail Australia understands the owner of the tattoo is a former police officer from Western Australia.

Mr Macgowan himself came up earlier in April when it was revealed he had brokered Lehrmann’s exclusive interview deal with Channel Seven’s Spotlight programme.

He tried to make a deal for $200,000 while the jury in Lehrmann’s rape trial was still out in October 2022, but he wanted the money to be placed in a trust account so it wouldn’t appear that Lehrmann was being paid.

Instead, the network agreed to pay Lehrmann’s rent for a year in exchange for two interviews, which was worth about $105,000.

Bruce Lehrmann is photographed outside court on Monday after the findings were announced

Ms Higgins’ rape allegations were heard in the ACT Supreme Court in October 2022, but the case collapsed when a juror brought banned research material into court.

The ACT’s top prosecutor dropped sex abuse charges against him two months later, citing concerns about Ms Higgins’ mental health.

Lehrmann launched a defamation action following an episode of The Project in February 2021, in which Ms Higgins first made her rape allegations in an interview with Lisa Wilkinson.

He was not named in that broadcast but claimed friends and colleagues were able to identify him as Ms Higgins’ rapist and launched a defamation action in an attempt to clear his name.

However, that plan failed on Monday when Judge Lee found it was likely Lehrmann had raped Ms Higgins.

If he had not filed the civil case, he would never have been labeled a rapist in court.

Do you know the owner of the tattoo? Email charlotte.karp@mailonline.com