Bruce Lehrmann lied during his defamation trial against Network Ten because he was trying not to expose himself as a rapist, a court has been told.

The former political staffer was found by Federal Court Justice Michael Lee to have – on the balance of probabilities – raped his colleague Brittany Higgins in Parliament House in 2019.

The bruising civil court finding came after Lehrmann sued Ten and journalist Lisa Wilkinson for defamation over a 2021 interview with Higgins in which she aired the allegations.

Lehrmann has launched an appeal against the ruling in the Federal Court, arguing he was denied procedural fairness because the factual findings differed from the case run by Ten.

He has also taken aim at Lee’s ruling that he would be entitled to only $20,000 in damages if he did prove defamation, claiming the figure is “manifestly inadequate”.

But Wilkinson’s lawyer told the court on Wednesday that Lehrmann’s “repeated acts of dishonesty” throughout the trial and beforehand meant the award of damages could not deemed inadequate.

Sue Chrysanthou SC said Lehrmann had lied because he knew that telling the truth would expose him as a rapist.

“If a person comes to court and has repeatedly lied about key issues, that will have a substantial impact on damages,” she said.

Lee determined Lehrmann deliberately lied about important issues throughout the trial.

Lee wrote he was satisfied the 30-year-old denied there had been any sex because he knew that admitting to sex with a drunk woman would raise the issue of consent “and he feared the truth”.

Chrysanthou said the judge erred in finding Lehrmann was recklessly indifferent to Higgins’ consent and should have instead found that he committed “intentional rape”.

“That level of indifference would be considered by any person on the street in 2021 to be a knowing rape, because that sort of indifference is not acceptable in this day and age,” she said.

Lehrmann also took issue with Lee’s definition of rape, contending it was inconsistent with the meaning an ordinary person would understand.

Lehrmann maintains he did not sexually assault Higgins.

A criminal case against him in 2022 was abandoned without any findings against him.

The appeal hearing continues on Thursday.

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-AAP