Legal action against disgraced former political staffer Bruce Lehrmann continues to build up, with his former landlord now taking him to NCAT.
Lady Gaenor Meakes, who owns the multimillion-dollar luxury Sydney pad where Mr Lehrmann lived on Seven Network’s dime, has launched proceedings in the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal, with a conciliation listing date set for May 23 at the Civic Tower in Sydney.
During his long-running defamation battle with the Ten network and presenter Lisa Wilkinson, Mr Lehrmann revealed he had stayed at Lady Meakes’ Balgowlah property for a full year, with the exorbitant rent costs covered by Seven.
Seven offered Lehrmann the luxury three-bedroom rental in exchange for an exclusive interview with the network’s Spotlight program.
Seven paid out $2000 a week for the northern beaches pad or more than $100,000 in total.
A recent advertisement for the pad dated May 30 puts the rent at $1300 a week, a substantial $700 discount from the price forked out for Mr Lehrmann.
The reasons for Lady Meakes’ legal action is unclear.
Mr Lehrmann’s defamation trial ended when Federal Court judge Michael Lee concluded, on the balance of probabilities, that Mr Lehrmann had raped Brittany Higgins in Parliament House, granting victory to Ten.
After leaving the Balgowlah property, Mr Lehrmann moved into a property in North Sydney that was rented by a friend.
The new proceedings add to Mr Lehrmann’s growing woes.
He is currently unemployed and confronting up to $5m in legal bills.
He is also facing a rape charge in Queensland for an alleged incident in Toowoomba in 2021.
He has yet to be committed or enter a plea but it is understood he denies any wrongdoing.