Bruce Lehrmann has been named as the well-known Australian facing rape charges in Toowoomba after the Supreme Court of Queensland lifted a suppression order that has protected his identity.
Earlier this month, Toowoomba magistrate Clare Kelly lifted a suppression order but delayed her decision to allow Mr Lehrmann’s lawyers to apply to the Supreme Court to keep it in place.
The media has been barred from naming Mr Lehrmann during a number of court appearances this year, because previous laws protected the identity of people charged with serious sexual offences until they were committed to trial.
The Australian has previously reported that the-then unidentified man was charged after his alleged victim googled the “high-profile national scandal” – the Brittany Higgins rape case – in which he was involved.
The woman told police that when she saw a photo of Mr Lehrmann, she realised he was the same man she alleges had unprotected sex with her after they met in a Toowoomba nightclub in October 2021.
Mr Lehrmann allegedly had consensual sex with the woman that night but failed to wear a condom when they had sex twice the next morning. Failing to wear a condom without a partner’s permission is considered sexual assault under Queensland law.
In his detailed reasons, the judge noted that Mr Lehrmann’s lawyers failed to prove that a non-publication order was necessary for his protection.
“The evidence included the presentation of the applicant in media interviews, and the fact that he made no mention in them of being in a poor psychological state for reasons he did not wish to disclose to the public.”
“Instead, he presented to the public, for reasons that neither he, his solicitor, nor his psychologist adequately explained to the Magistrate, as someone who was keen to litigate pending defamation cases and ‘light some fires’.”