Major update as Bruce Lehrmann denies charge in fresh court hearing
Bruce Lehrmann fronted Hobart Magistrates Court in Tasmania on Thursday to plead not guilty to a charge of stealing a motor vehicle.
The ex-Liberal staffer - who was accused of raping Brittany Higgins in a Canberra parliamentary office - appeared by phone link with his lawyer Zali Burrows.
It's alleged he stole a Toyota Prado from a rural property in the Huon Valley area in Tasmania's south, about 30km south-east of Hobart, on November 20 last year.
According to court documents, the charge of motor vehicle stealing was brought against Lehrmann by Gail Denise Oates.
Lehrmann appeared to raise the ire of magistrate Reg Marron after the first attempt to get him on the phone failed, with Ms Burrows suggesting he may not have answered because it was an unknown number.
'We've got a room full of people here ready to go, when we ring back please make sure he's ready to go,' said Magistrate Marron.
The matter was adjourned for mention to September 19 at 10am.
State prosecutor Bune Kokeo applied for Lehrmann to be forced to attend his next appearance in person.
But the magistrate denied it, saying he could not see a good reason why Lehrmann 'should be put through that'.
His court appearance comes just weeks after it was revealed that Lehrmann is now working as a full-time, live-in nanny.
He has reportedly found his 'happy sanctuary', living with a close family friend and their two children.
The children, who at the time of initial reporting were aged under 10, call him 'The Manny' and 'Uncle Bruce'.
It's understood Lehrmann took the unpaid role in exchange for a space in the family's home, following two criminal court cases and a defamation trial defeat which left his reputation and finances in tatters.
He relies on Centrelink benefits, and was hired by the family almost 19 months ago.
A recently revealed photo showed Lehrman smiling directly at the camera while sitting next to a child holding a popcorn box branded with the Village Cinemas logo.
'Bruce relishes the trusted role he has in the children's lives, and the family really adores him,' lawyer Zali Burrows told The Daily Telegraph.
'It's been a safe, happy sanctuary, away from the mental and financial turmoil.'
In August 2021, Lehrmann was identified as the Liberal Party staffer accused of raping Ms Higgins inside Parliament House in 2019.
Ms Higgins shared her alleged sexual assault with Channel 10 journalist Lisa Wilkinson in an interview aired on The Project.
Lehrmann has always denied the allegations.
Lehrmann faced a rape trial at the ACT Supreme Court in late 2022 but the case was dropped after a juror brought outside research into the deliberation room.
A retrial was abandoned over concerns for Ms Higgins' mental health.
In 2023, Lehrmann launched legal proceedings against Wilkinson and Channel 10, claiming he'd been defamed by The Project episode.
The ruling in that lawsuit left Lehrmann in ruin with Justice Michael Lee finding that, on the balance of probabilities, he raped Ms Higgins.
He now faces bankruptcy after costs were awarded against him but he has appealed the ruling with the case to go before the Federal Court of Australia in August.
Lehrmann is also fighting allegations he raped a woman in Queensland in 2021.
The woman alleged Lehrmann assaulted her twice the following morning after they met in a Toowoomba strip club the previous night.
She claimed she and Lehrmann ingested cocaine during the night out and had consensual sex at a house in east Toowoomba about 4am.
The woman alleged she was woken about 10am by Lehrmann sexually assaulting her.
Lehrmann's former defence barrister Andrew Hoare previously said at a committal hearing that the alleged victim was too intoxicated to remember giving consent and Lehrmann could have mistakenly believed he had consent for further sex acts.
The case is set to return to court on June 20.
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