Category Archives: Ben Roberts-Smith

Ben Roberts-Smith defamation trial: former patrol commander denies ordering execution of elderly prisoner

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Ex-soldier known as Person 5 denies allegation put by lawyers acting for newspapers

Ben Roberts-Smith’s former patrol commander has denied in court accusations he ordered the execution of an elderly Afghan prisoner discovered hiding in a tunnel – in an alleged “blooding” of a junior soldier.

The retired soldier, anonymised before the court as Person 5, was directly challenged on Tuesday by lawyers for three newspapers being sued by Roberts-Smith: “You told [soldier] Person 4 to murder the old man.”

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Ben Roberts-Smith defamation trial: SAS colleague felt threatened to testify by newspapers, court hears

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Soldier refused to answer questions about one mission on grounds of self-incrimination on offence of ‘the most serious nature’

An SAS soldier who refused to answer questions about an alleged unlawful killing in Afghanistan has told the federal court he felt threatened to testify by the newspapers being sued by Ben Roberts-Smith.

The soldier, anonymised before the court as Person 56, refused to answer questions about a 2012 mission to Fasil, where, it has previously been alleged, he and Roberts-Smith were responsible for the unlawful killing of two Afghan men who had been taken prisoner from a vehicle.

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Witness in Ben Roberts-Smith defamation trial denies he is a ‘liar and a fantasist’

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Former SAS soldier defends himself against accusations from Arthur Moses SC of trying to justify his own failures as a soldier

A former SAS soldier who testified that Ben Roberts-Smith ordered him to stage a mock execution of a comrade during a training drill has defended himself in court against accusations he was a liar and fantasist who was trying to justify his own failures as a soldier.

Roberts-Smith’s lawyers accused the former soldier, known as Person 10, of fabricating evidence out of malice against Roberts-Smith, and feelings of inadequacy about his own performance on missions in Afghanistan.

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Ben Roberts-Smith defamation trial: former soldier objects to answering questions about SAS missions

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Soldier anonymised as Person 66 objects to questions in federal court over missions under Roberts-Smith’s command on the grounds of self-incrimination

A former Australian soldier has objected to answering questions about how many SAS missions he went on under the command of Ben Roberts-Smith in Afghanistan in 2012, his lawyer telling the federal court his expected evidence could incriminate him in an alleged murder.

The soldier, anonymised before the court as Person 66, briefly began giving evidence late on Monday, subpoenaed to give evidence by the newspapers defending a defamation action brought by his former comrade and Victoria Cross recipient Roberts-Smith.

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Ben Roberts-Smith defamation trial: ‘I believed something unlawful had happened’, Andrew Hastie says

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Assistant defence minister tells court he was troubled by ‘warrior culture’ in elite SAS regiment when he and Roberts-Smith were comrades in Afghanistan

Australia’s Special Air Service regiment was riven by a “culture war” with one faction obsessed by a “pagan warrior ethos” where “killing was a sacrament in itself”, the assistant defence minister, Andrew Hastie, has told Ben Roberts-Smith’s defamation trial.

Hastie, a former SAS officer who resigned from the military when he was preselected to run for parliament, has been subpoenaed to give evidence by three newspapers defending a defamation action brought by his former comrade and Victoria Cross recipient Roberts-Smith.

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Assistant defence minister Andrew Hastie tells court Ben Roberts-Smith was seen as a bully in SAS

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Hastie, giving evidence in defamation trial, also claims Roberts-Smith’s reported version of Afghanistan mission was an ‘alternate universe’

The assistant defence minister, former SAS officer Andrew Hastie, has told a court there was a “widespread view” within the SAS that Ben Roberts-Smith was a bully towards his comrades.

The minister told the federal court on Thursday that Roberts-Smith’s reported version of a mission they both served on in Afghanistan was an “alternate universe” to what he observed.

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Woman threatened by stranger with photos of her and Ben Roberts-Smith having sex, court told

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Woman who had affair with former SAS soldier tells defamation trial she was ‘simultaneously in love and afraid of him’

A woman who had an affair with Ben Roberts-Smith has told a court she was confronted by a stranger who showed her photos of her having sex with Roberts-Smith in a hotel room, and threatened to make them public if she didn’t confess the affair to the veteran’s wife.

The woman, anonymised before the court as Person 17, gave evidence about the torrid end of her affair with Roberts-Smith to the federal court Wednesday morning, saying she was “scared” he would “seek payback”.

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‘I was afraid of what he might do’: woman tells court Ben Roberts-Smith punched her and threatened to burn down her house

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Woman who had affair with former SAS soldier tells defamation trial he refused to take her to hospital for treatment and took naked photos of her while she slept

Ben Roberts-Smith punched a woman he was having an affair with in the face, refused to take her to hospital when she pleaded for medical help, and then took pictures of her naked while she slept, the woman has told the federal court.

In an emotional two hours in the witness box, the woman, who has been anonymised before the court as Person 17, gave evidence about a tempestuous six-month relationship she had with the former SAS soldier, which she alleges was at times threatening and violent.

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Ben Roberts-Smith defamation trial: woman who war veteran had affair with to give evidence

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Person 17, who is at the centre of an allegation of domestic violence, which Ben Roberts-Smith denies, will enter the witness box

The woman with whom Ben Roberts-Smith was having an affair - and who is at the centre of an allegation of domestic violence against him - is expected to give evidence in his defamation trial Tuesday afternoon.

The trial has spent weeks focused on Australian SAS missions in Afghanistan, with a series of former comrades giving evidence about actions on operation, but it will shift its focus to Australia as the woman, anonymised in court documents as Person 17, to enter the witness box.

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Ben Roberts-Smith a mentor to Zachary Rolfe, the NT police officer cleared of murder

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Relationship between two former soldiers detailed in statement by Rolfe’s mother, Debbie, in Roberts-Smith’s defamation trial

The former SAS soldier Ben Roberts-Smith, who is facing allegations of war crimes, was a “mentor” to Zachary Rolfe, the Northern Territory police officer who was cleared on Friday of murdering Kumanjayi Walker.

The relationship between the two men, who have been at the centre of separate trials that have dominated the media for more than a month, is detailed in a statement by Rolfe’s mother, Debbie, submitted to court as part of Roberts-Smith’s case.

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