'One does not pash passively': quotes from the Bruce Lehrmann defamation case verdict

Speaking for more than two and a half hours, federal court Justice Michael Lee delivered his oral summary of the judgment in the defamation case brought by Bruce Lehrmann against Lisa Wilkinson and Channel Ten. Lee found that former Liberal staffer Brittany Higgins was not defamed by Lisa Wilkinson and Ten in their interview with Brittany Higgins in February 2021, and that on the balance of probabilities, Lehrmann raped Higgins on the minister’s couch in Parliament House in 2019. Summarising the 324-page judgment, Lee was at times florid in his criticisms of Lehrmann, saying his 'untruths were all over the shop' and that 'having escaped the lion’s den, Mr Lehrmann made the mistake of going back for his hat,' referring to the fact that Lehrmann’s criminal trial was aborted due to juror misconduct, but that he had then brought a fresh civil case against Channel Ten and Wilkinson. Here are some key moments from Lee's judgment Bruce Lehrmann raped Brittany Higgins in Parliament House, judge finds on balance of probabilities