In the midst of his mental health meltdown after The Project aired Brittany Higgins’ rape claims, Bruce Lehrmann was dabbling in cryptocurrency from his hospital bed.
Mr Lehrmann checked himself into Sydney’s Royal North Shore Hospital the day after Lisa Wilkinson’s interview with Brittany Higgins aired on February 15, 2021.
He was later admitted to Northside mental health clinic in St Leonards on Sydney’s lower north shore for 12 days of a 21-day programme of treatment during the media storm.
A 260-page log of all his mobile phone activity from the day of the broadcast until March 3, 2021, reveals his girlfriend dumping him by text and friends ditching him.
But in the middle of his life collapsing around him – with just his mother, a close family friend and one Canberra pal still standing by him – Mr Lehrmann mysteriously recorded a login to two cryptocurrency exchanges.
The printout of his phone activity was released by the Federal Court this week as an exhibit in Mr Lehrmann’s defamation action against Lisa Wilkinson and Network Ten.
It shows that at 6.14pm on February 27, Mr Lehrmann recorded what appears to be his username or password for the Coinbase cryptocurrency exchange in a Notes file on his iPhone.
Coinbase is a website which allows for buying, selling and receiving untraceable cryptocurrency like Bitcoin and Ethereum.
Twelve minutes later, he then logged a username/password for another crypto site, Coinjar, often used as a virtual wallet which makes cryptocurrency available for use in the real world.
The apparent usernames or passwords were unredacted in the log activity report published by the Federal Court.
There is no mention of cryptocurrency in Mr Lehrmann’s texts or WhatsApp messages before or afterwards in the log to explain the interaction, and nothing similar occurs elsewhere in the activity log.
It came 11 days after he presented himself at the emergency department of Royal North Shore Hospital the morning after The Project interview and told doctors he was suicidal.
Mr Lehrmann was prescribed antipsychotic medication Seroquel while in treatment, he told friends in texts, which is used for the treatment of schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and major depressive disorder.
His hospital notes were released by the ACT Supreme Court during his criminal trial on the rape charge which he strenuously denied and which was abandoned after juror misconduct.
‘Bruce self-presented to RNS ED [Royal North Shore Emergency Department] due to a deterioration in mental state with suicidal thoughts,’ the notes revealed.
‘This is on a background of Bruce being contacted by multiple journalists alleging that he was the perpetrator of a high profile sexual assault occurring at Parliament House in 2019.
‘He had not heard anything about this until yesterday – nil complaints flagged, nil charges, nil contact from [alleged] victim.
‘It has come as an enormous shock and he has been considering suicide. These thoughts acutely intensified when he was intoxicated last night after his friends left.
‘He fears these thoughts, and denies considering any plans. He has told his mother and girlfriend of his suicidal ideation.’
A progress report later added: ‘Since Monday, he hasn’t been able to sleep, eat or relax. Bruce became tearful.
‘He felt completely overwhelmed by the situation. He has told his mother, three best friends, his girlfriend and lawyer about the allegations, but aside from that no-one knows what is happening.
‘He reported feeling lonely and not knowing who to trust.’
While receiving treatment, the mobile phone log reveals the disintegration of Mr Lehrmann’s social life while on sick leave from his job with British American Tobacco.
His tight group of friends who drank heavily with him after the Project interview – and who he begged to bring him ‘bags’ of cocaine – mostly abandoned him within days of the broadcast.
He suspected one of tipping off the media that he had been admitted to hospital and they gradually dropped out of their WhatsApp group chat until just one remained in regular contact with him by the end of February.
Greta Sinclair, Mr Lehrmann’s girlfriend at the time of the interview being broadcast, also severed her ties with him within days of The Project’s claims.
After a series of loving texts between the couple on the day of the interview being aired, the relationship quickly started to become strained.
‘I want to be there to support you where I can but I need to distance myself a little because I need to think of my mental health also,’ she told him on February 18, 2021.
‘I won’t be coming to visit but we can still talk daily.’
Mr Lehrmann later replied: ‘You don’t love me any more.’ He added two seconds later: ‘It’s ok.’
Ms Sinclair replied: ‘It’s just a lot to deal with on top of my mental issues so it’s not easy for me and today was scary when I lapsed out of reality.’
Five days later on February 23, she ended the relationship completely.
‘This is all quite a lot for me to handle and a journalist tried to add me on Instagram,’ she wrote to him at 11.31am.
‘I will be available to talk every now and again but I am not going to continue our relationship. I’m sorry and I hope you understand.’
There is no record of Mr Lehrmann replying.
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