Senior officer admits mistake in Brittany Higgins investigation

A senior detective who investigated Brittany Higgins’ rape allegation has admitted police made a mistake providing sensitive counselling notes to prosecutors and defence lawyers. 

“That’s the bottom line, we shouldn’t have handed them over and it’s a mistake that we made,” Australian Federal Police detective superintendent Scott Moller told an independent inquiry into how the ACT justice system responded to Higgins’ case. 

Moller was involved in investigating Higgins’ allegation that Bruce Lehrmann, a former colleague, raped her after a night out in 2019, inside the Parliament House Office of then-Coalition minister Linda Reynolds. 

Mr Lehrmann denies the allegation.  

Moller told the inquiry it was difficult to articulate the collective pressure on police from the public, media and within his own organisation for Lehrmann to be served with a court summons.  

“There was a significant amount of pressure. There was a real desire to expedite this process and get Mr Lehrmann before the court,” he said on Monday. 

The inquiry has previously heard a brief of evidence containing Higgins’ counselling notes was provided to both the defence and prosecutors.  

Moller said this should not have happened but police had been acting in good faith.  

“No one specifically turned their mind to the counselling notes being served, it was part of the brief that went [and] the police and myself were acting in good faith, sharing the material we had,” he said.  

“Absolutely, I acknowledge that we shouldn’t have done that.”  

Lehrmann faced a trial in the ACT Supreme Court in October 2022 but juror misconduct meant a verdict was not reached. 

Prosecutors later dropped charges against Lehrmann due to concerns about the impact a second trial would have on the mental health of Higgins.  

The inquiry was set up by the ACT government after accusations by police and prosecutors about each other’s conduct during the high-profile investigation and trial.