Police are expected to apply for a warrant for Bruce Lehrmann’s arrest following his failure to attend court on Thursday morning.
Lehrmann pleaded not guilty to stealing a Toyota Prado in 2024, but neither the 30-year-old nor his high-profile lawyer Zali Burrows appeared in court on the car theft charge.
Attempts to contact Ms Burrows were unsuccessful, leaving the police prosecutor and presiding officer, Magistrate Robert Webster, unimpressed.
‘From emails … she doesn’t understand the purpose of this court at all,’ Mr Webster said.
The magistrate said Ms Burrows told him she misunderstood whether the morning’s appearance was a hearing or a mention.
He also said Lehrmann was ‘not available today due to urgent medical issues slash tests,’ according to his lawyer, who asked for an adjournment.
Lehrmann did appear in the Federal Court across town in Hobart on Tuesday on a separate matter relating to alleged misappropriation of secret documents related to French submarines in 2019.
On Thursday, police prosecutor Bunewat Keo said he was ready to proceed and was ‘unsure why (Ms Burrows) was not answering her phone’ after email correspondence earlier in the day.
An arrest warrant may be issued for Bruce Lerhmann (pictured) after not appearing in court
‘We have a strong prima facie case,’ he told the court.
Mr Keo also said he had limited ground to oppose a delay to offer Lehrmann ‘procedural fairness’ and saw little option but to apply for a warrant to be issued for his arrest.
The matter was stood down, with Mr Webster signalling he would make further attempts to rouse the lawyer.
Lehrmann has denied stealing a Toyota Prado at remote Mountain River in southern Tasmania on November 20, 2024.
The car owner and her family, a service station worker and five police officers are expected to give evidence in the case, expected to take four days.
At a previous hearing, Ms Burrows signalled she would be challenging the Prado owner’s statement to police on the grounds it was different to assertions made in media interviews.
The former Liberal staffer has been the subject of various court matters since a 2019 alleged rape of then-colleague Brittany Higgins.
While a trial was abandoned in 2022 due to juror misconduct, the Federal Court in 2024 found on the balance of probabilities the rape did occur, dismissing his defamation suit against Network Ten and presenter Lisa Wilkinson.
Lerhmann lawyer Zali Burrows (pictured) was criticised in court for not answering her phone
Lehrmann has appealed against the defamation loss.
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