New delay rocks Bruce Lehrmann’s Qld rape case after court told hard drive of critical evidence ‘malfunctioned’, ‘destroyed’ by police

A new bombshell delay has rocked Bruce Lehrmann’s rape case after a court was told a hard drive containing material critical to the case had “malfunctioned” and been “destroyed” by police. The former political staffer is facing two counts of rape, which police allege stem from an incident in Toowoomba, west of Brisbane, in 2021. Mr Lehrmann, 30, was committed to stand trial in July 2024 but the case has stalled amid applications from his legal team to have the proceedings halted in their entirety. He has not entered a plea but has previously indicated he will fight the charges. Mr Lehrmann was not present in Brisbane District Court on Thursday during a brief callover mention of the Toowoomba matter. His lawyer Zali Burrows told the court it was premature to set a trial date due to Mr Lehrmann changing lawyers this year, in addition to her still “actively seeking” the disclosure of all relevant material from the police. Ms Burrows said the investigation was still active as the complainant had only been shown CCTV footage relevant to the case in April this year, in order to “remember things”.“She’s come up with a new invention that’s not in her original statement,” Ms Burrows told the court. An application for a permanent stay of proceedings is still in place. Ms Burrows said the officer-in-charge of the investigation had lost material stored on a personal hard drive, which contained recordings of witnesses and Mr Lehrmann, the full brief of evidence, copies of witness statements, video and digital recordings and a full download of the complainant’s phone. The court was told the officer claimed the hard drive had “malfunctioned for unknown reasons”. Ms Burrows said she had been told the hard drive had been destroyed before her own “independent experts could access the drive”. “In respect of all these issues, we respectfully submit it’s premature to set down a trial date, we don’t know the full scope of the material at hand,” she said. District Court Judge Deborah Richards said there were no available dates for this year to run a criminal trial. A separate application in the proceedings, set to go ahead in August, concerns claims of privilege from the Commissioner of Queensland Police for documents sought under subpoena. Michael Bonasia, representing the Commissioner, said most of the subpoena will be answered. The application for a permanent stay of Mr Lehrmann’s proceedings will be held on September 26. An outline of submissions for the stay application had not been filed, the court was told. Judge Richards ordered Ms Burrows to file her submissions by September 19, with the Crown response due five days later. A further callover hearing will take place on October 29. Mr Lehrmann remains on bail. Police allege Mr Lehrmann raped a woman twice following a night out in the Garden City where the pair allegedly consumed cocaine. It is alleged the woman lost consciousness and woke up to Mr Lehrmann having sex without her consent, before she urged him to stop. Police further allege, moments later, he again had sexual intercourse with the woman without her consent. Last week, Ms Burrows attempted to argue recorded phone calls between Mr Lehrmann’s former legal team and Queensland Police were “unlawful” and amounted to an “unfair” tactical advantage during a hearing at Toowoomba District Court. But District Court Judge Benedict Power KC dismissed the application within hours of the court sitting. The court was told Mr Lehrmann’s prior lawyers had not disclosed anything subject to legal professional privilege. Ms Burrows’ case ultimately hinged on establishing whether a police officer recording conversations with legal representatives was unlawful.