Australia parliament rape retrial abandoned

The case against Bruce Lehrmann, a former political adviser accused of raping a colleague inside Australia's Parliament House, has been dropped.

The 27-year-old, denies sexually assaulting Brittany Higgins on a minister's sofa after a night out in 2019. He maintains no sex took place.

Mr Lehrmann's trial collapsed in October because of jury misconduct.

The ongoing risk to Ms Higgins's mental health means a retrial is not in the public interest, prosecutors say.