to Mr Sharaz and he asked you, “What’s this”, and you said:
I am cleaning out my phone ahead of the police.
?---But it didn’t actually take place, as I sought legal advice and they said that would be dumb and I handed over all the audio recordings which are the ones I was worried about, which was the Cash one and the Try one and I gave it to them upfront.
My question is do you recall that you sent a text to Mr Sharaz on 21 May saying:
I am cleaning out my phone ahead of the police?
?---I did send that text message.
Yes. And you were deleting things off your phone ahead go giving it to the police, were you not?---I deleted a photo of me that I was ashamed of; yes.
Well, can I suggest that you deleted any messages you had with a significant number of people who may have been in a position to contradict your narrative of events?---No, that’s not true.
251 The reference in this extract to the representation made to Mr Sharaz via WhatsApp on 21 May 2021 requires some context. At this time, Ms Higgins was sending Mr Sharaz "old audio", and Ms Higgins said, "I'm cleaning out my phone ahead of the police" (T909.30). It is plain she was sending media to Mr Sharaz; what is also clear is that she retained material not apparently inconsistent with the allegation of rape (T709.30). From Mr Sharaz's response, it appears the specific audio sent to him on 21 May was a covertly recorded conversation, and he reassured her and there was some discussion as to whether she could trust the police.
252 But what matters is the existence of the various contradictory explanations given (or suggestions floated) by Ms Higgins as to why some material was preserved and some was missing. Some data might conceivably have gone missing when changing phones, but it was never made clear to me why such an event (or events) would cause her iCloud data to disappear like a will-o'-the-wisp? Or, more strangely, to disappear from her backups selectively? Or, even stranger still, why, as detailed below, would she toy with a conspiracy theory that her data was wiped remotely? Moreover, why would she not be careful to save the data concerning the original version and metadata of a photograph she (and Mr Sharaz) later considered in 2021 the most important corroborative material supporting her account of what occurred?
253 I do not think it is a co-incidence that the material she did not provide to the AFP when her phone was belatedly handed over (but has since been obtained from other sources) often sits uncomfortably with aspects of her 2021 cover-up narrative.
