A Tasmanian woman who allegedly had her car stolen by former political staffer Bruce Lehrmann says she does not know him “from a bar of soap”.
Gail Oates, from Mountain River in the Huon Valley, told 9News she was thrown into a state of “panic” when she discovered her Toyota Prado missing from her home on November 20 last year.
Oates said she had left her keys hidden inside the vehicle and only noticed it was missing when she stepped outside at 7am to take her son to work.
“Panic, panic, absolute panic, because I knew that was my pride and joy the Prado, so I rang the police straight away,” she said.
The car was later returned to the home by midday, with a full tank of fuel and the keys still inside.
“It was so weird and bizarre,” Oates said.
She said police later showed her security footage from a nearby service station, revealing a man refuelling her car and purchasing a bottle of Coke.
“Police then came and asked me if I could identify him and I did not know him from a bar of soap,” Oates said.
It wasn’t until court reports emerged that Oates learned the person charged was Lehrmann.
While she has never met him, she noted her son briefly worked with him.
Lehrmann appeared via phone in Hobart Magistrate’s Court on Monday.
He has not yet entered a plea will return to court in June.
