A Supreme Court judge has criticised Brittany Higgins over false and misleading claims she made during media interviews about a political cover up.
A WA Supreme Court judge has found Brittany Higgins made dozens of false or misleading statements to the media about a political cover up.
Ms Higgins and her husband David Sharaz were sued by her former boss Linda Reynolds over social media posts the pair made that defamed the retired senator.
The posts were critical of how Ms Reynolds handled an allegation Ms Higgins had been raped by her colleague Bruce Lehrmann in the senator’s Parliament House office.
On Wednesday, Justice Paul Tottle largely sided with Ms Reynolds, finding the posts defamed the former politician and awarded her $341,000 in damages.
He wrote in his judgment that a cover up was a vital part of Ms Higgins’ story and found “dishonest aspects” were given in her account.
Justice Tottle said Ms Higgins’ account was distorted by a need for events to conform to her view about how she was treated by the Liberal Party, specifically by Ms Reynolds and her former chief of staff Fiona Brown.
“This was reflected in the aspects of the events she emphasised, aspects she omitted to mention and by statements she made that had no foundation in fact,” he said.
Ms Higgins first went public with her allegations in media interviews on news.com.au and The Project in 2021 — two years after the alleged rape.
The story created a political and media storm that resulted in several law...
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