Outside court,Lehrmann has denied he used sex workers with theSpotlight team.
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Lehrmann’s barrister,Matthew Richardson SC,attacked Auerbach’s credibility and suggested his evidence was false,bringing up things Auerbach had told his own clinical psychologist,including that he was drinking too much during the time he was working at Seven.
It’s a coping mechanism which is hardly surprising when you consider Auerbach’s other evidence – that the morning after a night of heavy drinking and sex workers with Lehrmann,he was in such a hideous shame spiral that he sent his bosses at the network a 7.39am email tendering his resignation.
He said that he had used the corporate credit card for something that was “nothing to do with work”,during a “drunken daze”.
“That morning was the worst morning of my life,” Auerbach told the court.
Quite.
“You are prepared to say anything,no matter how false,to damage people who are employed by Channel Seven,” Richardson said to Auerbach. He denied that.
Auerbach’s resignation wasn’t accepted,according to his evidence,and not long after he was flying to Tasmania for golf with Lehrmann as his “babysitter” or “minder”.
It was during some of those meetings,Auerbach told the court,that Lehrmann shared with him documents including logs of Brittany Higgins’ text messages,and the statement of facts of the Australian Federal Police.
Lehrmann has denied,under oath,that he shared those documents.
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Not since Oscar Wilde,or latterly,Ben Roberts-Smith,have we seen a defamation trial brought by a person with such catastrophic unintended consequences for that person.
The entire Brittany Higgins/Bruce Lehrmann case has turned into alitigation superstorm. The defamation action has been a masterclass in poor life choices,and done the journalistic profession few favours.
TheNews of the World was shut down for less.
The rest of us can only look on and weakly protest that we are not all like that.
Even as we report on this ghastly saga.
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