Brittany Higgins broke down sobbing in the arms of a close friend days after being allegedly raped by Bruce Lehrmann in Parliament House, a court has heard.

Ben Dillaway said he flew to Canberra on Thursday, March 27, 2019, to support Higgins after suspecting she had been sexually assaulted the weekend before.

Giving evidence in a defamation trial on Thursday, Dillaway said Higgins cried and wept in his arms.

“She was very upset and appeared very broken,” he told the Federal Court.

Dillaway said while he could not recall the exact words spoken, he took away from the discussion that she had been raped or sexually assaulted.

The following week, Higgins allegedly told him she was struggling at work, had suffered panic attacks and had confined herself in a Parliament House bathroom to cry.

She also said she did not want a soul to know about the alleged incident, Dillaway said.

“She had concerns about becoming known as the girl who was raped in parliament,” he said.

Lehrmann is suing Network Ten and journalist Lisa Wilkinson for defamation over a February 2021 report on The Project regarding Higgins’ allegation. The ex-Liberal staffer denies there was ever any sexual contact or intimacy between him and Higgins.

On Thursday, the court also heard from Nikola Anderson, who was working as a security guard about 1.30am on March 23, 2019. She escorted Higgins and Lehrmann to the office of Senator Linda Reynolds.

Anderson told the court that she conducted a welfare check about 4.30am, after Higgins failed to come out of the suite.

In an affidavit, she said Higgins was naked on the minister’s couch and had opened her eyes to look at her

“She rolled over into the foetal position and faced the desk, the minister’s desk,” she said.

Higgins’ dress and shoes were on the floor next to the lounge, her makeup appeared to be intact and she did not appear to be in any distress, Anderson said.

Mark Fairweather, the other security guard who signed Lehrmann and Higgins into Parliament House, said the pair did not seem to be too drunk going through the metal detectors.

“I would have refused entry if I believed they were heavily intoxicated,” he told Justice Michael Lee.

Fairweather said when Lehrmann left later on, he was walking hastily while looking down at his phone.

Major Nikita Irvine, who was Reynolds’ aide de camp about the time of the alleged rape, told the court she got “bad vibes” from Lehrmann.

“When I started at that office, I had bad vibes on Bruce and his future,” she said.

When Ten’s barrister Matthew Collins KC asked what she meant, Irvine could not give a precise answer.

“It’s women’s intuition, Dr Collins. I’m sorry, I just didn’t want to spend time with him,” she said.

Irvine said Higgins had told her about the claimed sexual assault days after the alleged event. The pair discussed it four more times in the following weeks.

Lehrmann has already had $445,000 in legal bills covered under two defamation settlements with News.com.au and the ABC over their media reports airing Higgins’ rape allegations.

He was charged in August 2021 over the alleged rape, but his criminal trial in the ACT Supreme Court was derailed by juror misconduct.

Prosecutors did not seek a second trial, citing concerns for Higgins’ mental health.

Lehrmann is also before Queensland courts accused of raping another woman twice in Toowoomba in October 2021.

He has not yet entered a plea, but his lawyers have indicated he denies the charges.

1800 RESPECT 1800 737 732

National Sexual Abuse and Redress Support Service 1800 211 028

– AAP