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Brittany Higgins felt 'trapped' during alleged rape in Australian parliament - court Brittany Higgins felt 'trapped' during alleged rape in Australian parliament - court
(about 4 hours later)
Bruce Lehrmann arrives at a Canberra court on Tuesday to face a rape trialBruce Lehrmann arrives at a Canberra court on Tuesday to face a rape trial
Bruce Lehrmann arrives at a Canberra court on Tuesday to face a rape trialBruce Lehrmann arrives at a Canberra court on Tuesday to face a rape trial
An Australian former political staffer said she felt "trapped and not human" during an alleged rape inside Parliament House in Canberra. An Australian former political staffer said she felt "trapped" and "not human" during an alleged rape inside Parliament House in Canberra.
Prosecutors say Bruce Lehrmann sexually assaulted Brittany Higgins in March 2019 while she was drunk and asleep in the office of a government minister.Prosecutors say Bruce Lehrmann sexually assaulted Brittany Higgins in March 2019 while she was drunk and asleep in the office of a government minister.
Mr Lehrmann, 27, has pleaded not guilty and denies the pair had sex at all.Mr Lehrmann, 27, has pleaded not guilty and denies the pair had sex at all.
The trial in a Canberra court began this week and is expected to call on several high-profile witnesses.The trial in a Canberra court began this week and is expected to call on several high-profile witnesses.
In a recorded police interview played to the jury on Wednesday, Ms Higgins said she had woken up on a sofa to find Mr Lehrmann - her colleague - having sex with her. Speaking in court for the first time, Ms Higgins said she had known Mr Lehrmann for less than a month before the alleged assault on 23 March, and that in the weeks before, he had tried to kiss her after a work event.
Crying, she told him "stop" and "no", Ms Higgins said in the interview from 2021. Earlier, in a recorded police interview played to the jury, Ms Higgins said she and Mr Lehrmann had agreed to share a ride home after a night out with colleagues but stopped at Parliament House.
"I wasn't screaming but there was obviously an urgency to it," she added. "He just kept going." Ms Higgins said she was "the most drunk I have been in my life" and had passed out on a couch.
She told police she woke to find Mr Lehrmann having sex with her. Crying, she told him "stop" and "no".
"I wasn't screaming but there was obviously an urgency to it," she said in the 2021 interview. "He just kept going."
When it was over, Mr Lehrmann quickly left the office, Ms Higgins said. "[There] was a strange moment of eye contact… I didn't say anything to him."When it was over, Mr Lehrmann quickly left the office, Ms Higgins said. "[There] was a strange moment of eye contact… I didn't say anything to him."
After waking up again hours later, with her dress bunched around her waist, Ms Higgins said she went home and cried all weekend. After waking up again hours later, with her dress bunched around her waist, Ms Higgins told police she went home and cried all weekend.
The following week, she told a senior staff member she had been assaulted.The following week, she told a senior staff member she had been assaulted.
"It didn't feel real," she said in the police tape. "[But] the moment I vocalised it, it hit me.""It didn't feel real," she said in the police tape. "[But] the moment I vocalised it, it hit me."
Earlier, the court heard the pair had ended up in Parliament House after a night out with colleagues in Canberra. In a separate police interview, Ms Higgins said she was nervous about telling her superiors about what had happened because she feared losing her job and felt "disposable".
By the time they left a second bar Ms Higgins told police she was "the most drunk I have been in my life". "The disparity between me and him was huge," she said.
She and Mr Lehrmann were heading in the same direction, so agreed to share a ride. He said he had to stop at work to pick up something, she said. Jurors earlier heard that Ms Higgins initially reported the incident to police in April 2019, but withdrew her complaint because she feared it would interfere with her job during an election campaign.
"It didn't seem overly strange," Ms Higgins told the police interview. "At that point I was focussed on not being sick." Almost two years later, in February 2021, she asked police to reopen the case after conducting interviews with two journalists.
Prosecutors have told the Australian Capital Territory Supreme Court they will argue that Ms Higgins was so intoxicated she would have been unable to consent to sex.Prosecutors have told the Australian Capital Territory Supreme Court they will argue that Ms Higgins was so intoxicated she would have been unable to consent to sex.
But Mr Lehrmann's barrister has told jurors the case was about the "reliability" and "credibility" of Ms Higgins, saying his client denied the two ever had sex, and that "the Australian public has been sold a pup with this story". But Mr Lehrmann's barrister has told jurors the case was about the "reliability" and "credibility" of Ms Higgins, saying there were "holes" in her account. His client denied the two ever had sex, he said, adding the Australian public had "been sold a pup with this story".
Earlier the court heard that Ms Higgins initially reported the incident to police in April 2019, but withdrew her complaint because she feared it would interfere with her job during an election campaign. The trial is expected to run for up to six weeks.
Almost two years later, in February 2021, she asked police to reopen the case after conducting interviews with two journalists, the jury was told.