Top cop reveals how he asked Brittany Higgins to stop speaking out ahead of the Bruce Lehrmann trial – and the astonishing response he got
- Top cop begged Brittany Higgins through the media
- The Victims of Crime boss said she couldn’t be silenced
A police chief has revealed how he asked Brittany Higgins to stop speaking out ahead of Bruce Lehrmann’s rape trial – but his pleas were blocked by her supporters.
Chief Inspector Scott Moller feared the trial could be jeopardized by Ms Higgins’ media interviews with Lisa Wilkinson and others about the 2019 rape allegations.
But in a submission to the Police Investigation and Prosecution inquiry, the top cop said his concerns were dismissed by Crime Victims Commissioner Heidi Yates.
Supt Moller claims that Mrs. Yates had told him that Mrs. Higgins could not be silenced: “She can’t, Scott – she is now the face of the movement.”
He believed Ms Yates was “more interested in Ms Higgins pushing the ‘#metoo’ movement than she was committed to the upcoming trial,” according to his submission to the inquiry.
A police chief has revealed how he asked Brittany Higgins (centre) to stop speaking out ahead of Bruce Lehrmann’s rape trial – but his pleas were blocked by her supporter Heidi Yates, (left)
Chief Inspector Scott Moller (pictured) feared the trial could be jeopardized by Ms Higgins’ media interviews on the 2019 rape allegations
“This upset me,” Supt Moller said in his submission to the Sofronoff inquiry underway in Canberra. The Australian reported.
He added: “I remember being angry that the Crime Victims Commissioner used the inquiry as a voice for reform before the trial had even been carried out.”
Ms Yates was Ms Higgins’ supporter and was regularly seen at the side of the former political collaborator at court during Mr Lehrmann’s trial last October.
Ms. Higgins’ interviews with Lisa Wilkinson and others threatened to jeopardize the process
The case was dropped due to juror misconduct and all charges against Mr. Lehrmann were later dropped due to concerns about Ms. Higgins’ mental health.
Mr. Lehrmann has always denied all allegations against him.
An investigative report prepared by Supt Moller into Mr Lehrmann’s prosecution was withheld from his defense team by the Director of Public Prosecutions, Shane Drumgold.
Supt Moller is due to testify Monday before the Board of Review inquiry – the ACT equivalent of a Royal Commission.
Supt Moller will testify after the area’s chief prosecutor said the investigating police had a ‘passion’ for the case against Mr Lehrmann to fail.
Director of Public Prosecutions Shane Drumgold accused senior police officers involved in the case of a ‘skill shortage’ and believed they had lost objectivity during the investigation.
He also said there were tensions between his office and police over Ms. Higgins’ credibility, but he believed many of the points raised by officers were not admissible in court.
But Mr Lehrmann’s lawyer, Steven Whybrow, disagreed with Mr Drumgold’s assessment of the police, claiming it was the prosecutor’s office that was hostile to the police.
Mr Whybrow said he did not believe the police had undermined the case and rather “looked at everything” whether it fit Ms Higgins’s story or Mr Lehrmann’s.
Senior Constable Emma Frizzell and Commander Michael Chew will testify later this week at the inquest.
