Liberal Senator Linda Reynolds has launched another high-profile defamation action in relation to the Brittany Higgins case, this time against the ACT government and former chief prosecutor Shane Drumgold.

A writ lodged in the Western Australian Supreme Court this week said Drumgold sent a letter accusing Reynolds of “disturbing conduct” during Bruce Lehrmann’s rape trial.

The letter to the Australian Federal Police was widely reported by media, allegedly causing Reynolds significant “loss and damage”, it claims.

The Guardian broke the story in late 2022, with an article headlined “Bruce Lehrmann trial: ACT’s top prosecutor complained about Linda Reynold’s disturbing conduct”.

It published parts of the letter to ACT Chief Police Officer Neil Gaughan following a freedom of information request after Lehrmann’s trial for the rape of Higgins, his former colleague, was abandoned.

Higgins alleges Lehrmann raped her inside Reynolds’ ministerial office in 2019, where he also worked as a staffer. He has always denied the allegations, saying there has never been sexual contact or intimacy between the pair.

Drumgold alleged Reynolds had “engaged in direct coaching of the defence cross-examination of the complainant”.

She is claiming aggravated damages with interest and an injunction restraining Drumgold and the ACT government from republishing the material.

Reynolds is also suing Higgins and her fiance David Sharaz over social media posts that she said had damaged her reputation.

She has accused Higgins of posting defamatory material on social media. Sharaz is being sued over tweets and a 2022 Facebook comment.

Among the defamatory imputations claimed against Sharaz’s tweets are that Reynolds pressured Higgins not to proceed with a complaint to police, “is a hypocrite in her advocacy for women’s interests and empowerment”, interfered in Lehrmann’s trial and bullied Higgins.

Reynolds claims she was also defamed by Sharaz’s reply to a comment on her Facebook page that asked how she was still in politics having “destroyed” Higgins.

“You’re a monster who deserves to be in jail,” it said.

Sharaz responded: “Thanks for reminding her. I hope she hears this every day until she dies”.

Lehrmann’s trial in the ACT Supreme Court was derailed by juror misconduct. Prosecutors decided not to pursue further action, amid fears for Higgins’ mental health.

Police struggled to get CCTV footage of Bruce Lehrmann and Brittany Higgins returning to parliament, a court has been told.

Higgins’ ‘tug of war’ over job, rape complaint

A distressed Higgins felt she could not keep her parliamentary job if she reported her alleged sexual assault to police, the Federal Court has heard.

Giving evidence in a defamation trial on Friday, rape crisis counsellor Catherine Cripps said Higgins showed distress at a meet and greet with the AFP in April 2019, and in subsequent counselling sessions in 2020.

“She desperately did want to report it, but she felt she wanted her job more,” she said.

“There was a terrible conflict, a real tug of war.”

Lehrmann is suing Network Ten and journalist Lisa Wilkinson, claiming they defamed him in a February 2021 report on The Project that detailed Higgins’ claims.

Higgins had been in the ACT for just six months for what she described as her “dream job”, and keeping it was not congruent with reporting the alleged rape, Cripps told the court.

“She told me that she knew if she brought this to anyone’s attention she would lose her job. She was clear about that.”

Earlier on Friday, Detective Senior Constable Sarah Harman described “frustrating” difficulties in retrieving CCTV footage of Higgins and Lehrmann in Parliament House on the night of the alleged rape.

Police were told the footage could not be handed over after the federal election was called on April 11 and the government went into caretaker mode.

The video was eventually obtained and has been played during the court case.

Higgins met Harman at the “meet and greet” session with Cripps.

In the car ride there, Higgins told Harman the white dress she was wearing on the night of the alleged rape had not been washed and was in a bag under her bed.

At the police station, Harman told Higgins she wanted to retrieve the dress in the near future as it was “perishable evidence”.

She also asked Higgins to find the name of the second bar she visited earlier that night – Higgins had said she could not remember where she had gone after leaving The Dock late on March 22.

On April 13, Higgins emailed Harman saying she no longer wished to pursue the complaint. She never handed over the dress or provided the name of the second bar, which was 1980s-themed nightclub 88mph, the court was told.

On October 20, the AFP received an inquiry from the Canberra Times about the alleged rape, including a claim it might be referred to in Senate estimates hearings.

Harman said when she rang to tell Higgins, the then-Liberal media adviser was “clearly crying” before abruptly hanging up the phone.

“She was hysterical at that point, very difficult to understand,” she said.

Higgins was much calmer, saying she was “all good” in a second conversation later that day, Harman said.

Lehrmann is also before Queensland courts, accused of raping another woman twice in Toowoomba in October 2021. His lawyers have indicated he denies the charges.

1800 RESPECT 1800 737 732

National Sexual Abuse and Redress Support Service 1800 211 028

– with AAP