was the important and truthful message to Mr Dillaway on 9 April 2019 in which Ms Higgins tells Mr Dillaway that she was "not interested in pursuing [a police complaint]" (Ex 45).
249 Moreover, the missing data went beyond text messages, but included photos taken on the night in question, which may have shown interactions between Ms Higgins and Mr Lehrmann. This is in circumstances where: (a) the evidence establishes that Ms Higgins had been asked by Detective Senior Constable Sarah Harman of the AFP on 8 April 2019 not to delete photos taken on the evening, including photos Ms Higgins had said she had taken of her and Mr Lehrmann on 22 March 2019 (T1294.17–30; T1324.37–39); (b) it is evident from the CCTV video from The Dock (Ex R42 / Ex 17A) that Ms Higgins had taken photographs at The Dock (T2353.45); (c) Ms Gain gave evidence of Ms Higgins having taken "selfies" at 88mph at around the time Ms Higgins and Mr Lehrmann were being intimate (T1106.19–21); and (d) the AFP did belatedly access Ms Higgins' phone on 26 May 2021, approximately 8,000 photographs were downloaded, but they did not include any photographs taken by her on the fateful night (T2354.2–4; Ex 67 (at T662.25–33)).
250 When confronted with this issue, the evidence of Ms Higgins was (T908.39–909.41):
MR WHYBROW: … in May of 2021, after you had made public allegations and spoken to the police, you handed your phone to the police, so that they could do [an] extraction of any data on it?---Yes. I – I don't remember the exact date but I handed over my phones, the ones that I had at the time.
Sure. And you recall that that – you had been asked since about February if the police could access your phone to try and get the data off it?---Yes, I was worried about leaks I was seeking legal advice at the time.
… do you agree that it was about three or four times you were asked by the police and it was not for a period of three months from when The Project went to air until approximately 23 May 2021, that you finally consented to the contents of your phone being downloaded?---Yes, they asked during the first DIC and I said seek legal advice and then during the second DIC I provided my phone
Before you handed over your phone to police, you would [delete] some things off it?---Yes, I deleted one particular photo that I was worried about.
What was that?---It was at a party and someone put a make America great hat on my head and I was ashamed that it was in existence, so I deleted it. I knew it wasn't – it wasn't relevant or anything, but I was just worried that it would leak, and it was something I was really ashamed off, so I deleted it.
Well, I want to suggest to you, you deleted a lot more than just one photograph off your phone before you gave it to the police?---That was the only one of note that I deleted.
Leaving aside "of note" you're aware, aren't you, that on 21 May there was a text recovered by the police where you had been sending various audio and photographs
