It is difficult to imagine a more excoriating judgment.

The circumstances before Bruce Lehrmann in the early hours of March 23, 2019, “screamed loudly to anyone with normal faculties” that his then-colleague Brittany Higgins was not consenting to sex.

Bruce Lehrmann and his lawyer Zali Burrows.Credit: Sam Mooy

They are the seven most damning words in the Full Court of the Federal Court’s devastating judgment on Wednesday.

The decision has dealt a likely fatal blow to Lehrmann’s costly attempts to rehabilitate his reputation, although his lawyer, Zali Burrows, has already raised the prospect of a High Court challenge.

The former federal Liberal staffer is also facing the threat of bankruptcy because he is unable to meet costs orders against him totalling more than $2 million.

In reasons characterised by brevity and clarity, the appeal court found Lehrmann observed the “very drunk, passive and silent” Higgins and “proceeded nonetheless” to have sex with her.

The court rejected Lehrmann’s bid to overturn Justice Michael Lee’s decision last year dismissing his defamation suit against Network Ten and Lisa Wilkinson over an interview with Higgins, aired in 2021, that imputed he was a rapist. Lee found the media parties had established a defence of........

© The Sydney Morning Herald