Bruce Lehrmann is accused of twice not wearing a condom during sex with a young woman he met on a night out after the political operative and his alleged victim both snorted a line of cocaine.
The former parliamentary staffer can now be identified as the high-profile Toowoomba man accused of raping a Queensland woman after a night out with friends after losing a court battle on Thursday to keep his identity secret.
Lehrmann was charged with two counts of rape in January this year following an alleged incident at a home in Toowoomba, west of Brisbane, in October 2021. In Queensland, having unprotected sex without the consent of a sexual partner is considered sexual assault.
Lehrmann has not entered a plea to the charges, but denies the allegations. Daily Mail Australia understands he intends to plead not guilty.
Bruce Lehrmann (pictured) can now be identified as the high-profile man accused of raping a woman in Toowoomba two years ago
The alleged victim claims she met Lehrmann at The Vault strip club (pictured) in Toowoomba, where he allegedly told her his name was ‘Bryce’.
Laws in Queensland that banned the media from publicly identifying alleged sex offenders unless the case was taken to court were overturned last month.
Details of the alleged rape may be revealed after High Court Judge Peter Applegarth lifted a non-publication order banning the media from publicly identifying Lerhmann.
The woman claimed she met Lehrmann during a night out that started when she joined friends at the Powerhouse music venue in Toowoomba.
After drinking with friends, she went to a strip club called The Vault, where she drank more alcohol and met Mr. Lehrmann.
Mr. Lehrmann is said to have introduced himself as “Bryce.”
Later, police allege the woman took a taxi to his friend’s house with Mr. Lehrmann.
They had sex once that night and twice in the morning, but the woman claims the last two times were not consensual because he was reportedly not wearing a condom.
Failure to wear a condom without a partner’s consent is considered sexual assault under Queensland law.
According to a court brief obtained exclusively by The Australian newspaper, the couple used cocaine at night.
Police will allege the woman told Lehrmann she needed a morning-after pill and he agreed to take her to a farm pharmacy.
She then allegedly asked Mr. Lehrmann to take her home and he stopped at McDonald’s along the way.
It will be alleged in court that the pair exchanged messages on Snapchat for a few days after the meeting, but soon lost contact.
Weeks later, the woman was reportedly talking to a friend’s mother about the Brittany Higgins case when she looked for details on her phone and saw Mr. Lehrmann’s photo — and recognized him as the same person who allegedly had sex with her.
The woman reported the incident to police the next day before making a formal statement.
Lehrmann was charged with two counts of rape in January.
Police claim they have CCTV footage from the strip club showing the couple leaving together, and that the man has booked a taxi.
The alleged night out in Toowoomba took place weeks after Lehrmann appeared in an ACT court on unrelated allegations that he raped then parliamentary colleague Brittany Higgins in 2019.
He pleaded not guilty in that case and was never convicted. He has always maintained that he never had sex with Ms Higgins.
Bruce Lehrmann has lost a major legal battle to keep his identity protected in a high-profile rape case
It comes after Queensland Supreme Court Judge Applegarth took a brutal swipe at Lehmann on Thursday as he decided to dismiss a non-publication order protecting the suspect’s identity.
Lehrmann had an interview with Channel Seven earlier this year, something Judge Applegarth took into account.
He said Lehrmann’s decision to take part in the Spotlight interview – as well as other interviews on Sunrise and Sky News – was at odds with his lawyer’s claims that media coverage of the new allegations could damage his mental health .
“A cynic might say, ‘I hope Channel Seven paid him, or his lawyers, a lot of money’, especially because of the impact it had on his application,” Judge Applegarth said in court on Thursday.
The judge added that while the name would “weigh heavily” on Mr Lehrmann, the “unfortunate effect on his mental health” was not sufficient reason to uphold the non-publication order.
Earlier this month, a magistrate ordered that the non-publication order to protect his identity be lifted, but his legal team appealed to the High Court, asking for that decision to be quashed.
Media companies opposed the continuation of the order.
Due to laws in Queensland that initially prevented the identification of people charged with prescribed sex crimes, including rape, Mr Lehrmann’s identity could not be revealed when he first appeared in court in January this year.
That protection was withdrawn earlier this month after the Queensland state government changed parts of the legislation.
However, before the changes came into effect, the man’s lawyers successfully filed a non-publication application in the High Court, allowing their client to remain protected.
On October 12, this order was revoked at the Toowoomba Magistrates Court, with the man’s lawyers indicating they would appeal the decision immediately afterwards.
Media companies had pointed to prominent interviews Mr. Lehrmann conducted
At the time, the court was told the high-profile man was at ‘significant’ risk of self-harm if his identity was published.
But High Court Judge Peter Applegarth said Mr Lehrmann had not made a non-publication order necessary to protect his mental health because his evidence failed to “compel” the magistrate to allow it to remain in force.
Media companies had pointed to prominent interviews Mr Lehrmann conducted with Channel 7’s Spotlight and Sky News Australia.
It was submitted on behalf of the media entities that there was ‘an inconsistency between the applicant’s public presentation and what the psychologist said about him’.
Judge Applegarth ruled that the magistrate took into account the psychologist’s evidence in her initial decision.
“Rather than lower his public profile and withdraw from media attention, the applicant, for whatever reason, chose to appear on national television more than once and, in early 2021, repeat the events that led to his mental illness had caused,” he said in his judgment.
‘He apparently felt well enough to engage with parts of the national media, and to deal with the resulting further coverage he received from the media he appeared on and other media following up on his high-profile appearances.
Judge Applegarth said Lehrmann had not established that the magistrate’s decision was unreasonable in a legal sense “or so unreasonable that no reasonable magistrate could have made that decision.”
At a judicial review on Thursday, the man’s lawyer, Andrew Hoare, told the Brisbane Supreme Court that the magistrate’s decision should be quashed and the non-publication order should continue.
He said if his client were identified he would be at increased risk of ‘catastrophic’ self-harm.
Mr Hoare said the sitting magistrate erred in finding that his client had chosen not to seek medication or see a psychologist.
“The risk is greater if there is no support (or involvement) among health workers,” he said.
“The use of the term ‘That is his choice’ imposes some kind of obligation on the applicant.”
Lehrmann’s identity as the high-profile man may be revealed after a High Court judicial review and non-publication order was dismissed on Thursday
The court was told that a forensic psychologist had ‘serious concerns’ about the high-profile man’s mental health.
But Rob Anderson QC, appearing for the media entities, questioned the likelihood of harm to the applicant.
“There is no error of law,” Anderson said of the magistrate’s decision.
Judge Applegarth noted that any decision regarding non-publication orders would not advance or halt the conduct of a future hearing. He said the level of risk must be taken into account.
“The focus of the hearing appears to be what can be said at this time about the state of the suspect’s psychology and what effective measures are available to him to reduce the identified risk,” he said.