Trial of Brittany Higgins' alleged rapist Bruce Lehrmann postponed to later June date

Bruce Lehrmann is accused of raping Brittany Higgins. Photos: Supplied.

The trial of the man accused of raping Brittany Higgins in Parliament House has been postponed from its original date in early June to later this month.

Earlier this week, the ACT Supreme Court heard Legal Aid had taken over the case for Mr Lehrmann but was struggling to find a barrister to defend him.

On Thursday (2 June), Kamy Saeedi of Kamy Saeedi Law took over as Mr Lehrmann’s solicitor and said he had counsel who could assist in the matter, but due to the volume of material to cover, he asked that the trial not start on the original date of 6 June. He also said his counsel had commitments later in the month.

Chief Justice Lucy McCallum postponed the start of the trial to a date that was not before 20 June and listed the matter for further directions on 8 June to gain a better idea of when it could begin, but said she would be “very reluctant” to postpone it to 27 June as that would leave no room for “slippage”.

The court also heard the trial is estimated to run for four weeks, down from the earlier estimate of six.

Last year, ACT Policing alleged that then-26-year-old Mr Lehrmann had sexual intercourse with Ms Higgins without her consent at Parliament House on 23 March 2019.

He has pleaded not guilty to the charge.