Australian prosecutors said on Friday they will drop the high-profile case of a former government adviser accused of sexually assaulting a colleague in parliament, because the trial was severely harming the complainant's mental health.
Based on "compelling evidence" from two independent medical experts, the prosecution decided not to pursue the trial, which could risk the complainant's life, Shane Drumgold, the director of public prosecutions of the Australian Capital Territory, told a news conference.
Brittany Higgins, an ex-staffer for then-defence industry minister Linda Reynolds, alleged last year that colleague Bruce Lehrmann had sexually assaulted her in a ministerial office in the Parliament House in Canberra in March 2019.
