Former Liberal staffer Bruce Lehrmann has faced a Tasmanian court accused of stealing a car.

Lehrmann appeared by phone in Hobart magistrates court on Monday morning, with the matter adjourned without plea.

It is alleged the 29-year-old stole a Toyota Prado from Mountain River, a rural area south-west of Hobart, on 20 November.

Lehrmann’s lawyer, Zali Burrows, who also appeared by phone, requested an adjournment so she could make representations on the charge.

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He is due to reappear on 19 June.

According to court documents, the charge of motor vehicle stealing was brought against Lehrmann by Gail Denise Oates.

Lehrmann was found by a federal court judge in a civil case last April to have, on the balance of probabilities, raped his former colleague Brittany Higgins at Parliament House in Canberra in 2019.

A criminal trial for the alleged rape was abandoned in October 2022 because of juror misconduct.

Prosecutors did not seek a retrial because of concerns for Higgins’s mental health.

Lehrmann, who has maintained his innocence, sued media outlets for defamation in civil action in the federal court, which ultimately failed.

He is appealing against the federal court decision.

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