Ben Roberts-Smith breaks down and thought his ‘life was over’ when he was accused of war crimes

Ben Roberts-Smith has damaged down once more describing how claims he was a warfare felony left him ‘crushed’ as he denied each critical allegation made in opposition to him by 9 newspapers.

Australia’s most adorned soldier mentioned he began to suppose his life was over after studying articles accusing him of murdering prisoners whereas serving in Afghanistan.  

‘From 2018 to the present day my life has modified dramatically. My life has been ruined,’ he mentioned.

‘My household life turned untenable, my non-public enterprise fell over. I’m extraordinarily lucky that I’ve an employer that’s understanding.

‘I’m consistently racked with anxiousness and to have the ability to face individuals every single day takes a tremendous quantity of effort.’

Mr Roberts-Smith mentioned he placed on a courageous face when coping with individuals as a result of that was what was anticipated of a Victoria Cross recipient.

‘And I work very laborious to keep up that presence in entrance of individuals as a result of I feel that they deserve it,’ he instructed the court docket. ‘However ultimately I do not sleep correctly.’

Barrister Bruce McClintock SC requested his shopper how he thought the general public seen him now.

‘That is the issue,’ Mr Roberts-Smith mentioned. ‘I do not know. I used to.’

Mr Roberts-Smith then referred to ‘deplorable’ claims he had punched his onetime mistress within the face, relatively than the allegations of warfare crimes.  

‘Now I stroll down the road, individuals will take a look at me. The very first thing I consider is that they suppose I hit a girl.’

Mr Roberts-Smith straight addressed Justice Anthony Besanko about how the allegations revealed in mid 2018 had ruined his life.

‘As I mentioned Your Honour, I really feel traumatised by it as a result of I used to be despatched to Afghanistan on the authorities’s behest to be a part of the Australian army.’

‘I did the whole lot that I used to be speculated to do and I adopted the principles. I did the best factor.’ 

Mr Roberts-Smith has beforehand described capturing lifeless an rebel machine gunner who he later realised might have been not more than 15.

‘I noticed issues in Afghanistan and did issues in Afghanistan, like having to have interaction adolescents, that I not happy with,’ he mentioned.

Mr Roberts-Smith instructed of being pressured to observe Afghans abuse ladies and youngsters and never with the ability to do something about it due to the principles of engagement.

‘And I settle for that. However that’s the trauma is the trauma I reside with, solely to return house and have these tales written about me which can be so demonstrably false.’

‘I’ve had these moments in my life within the final three years that I simply did not suppose it was price it.’ 

However he revered the Victoria Cross and what it stood for, in addition to the Australian Defence Power – folks that I’ve labored with’.

‘I like my household, my youngsters. And that retains me going to set the report straight, and that is why I am right here.” 

Mr Roberts-Smith mentioned he felt ‘betrayed and humiliated’ as a result of the whole lot he cared about had been taken from him, ‘within the house of a few articles’.

‘I served with honour and distinction and I all the time adopted the legal guidelines of armed battle and I by no means broke the [rules of engagement].

‘These individuals, utilizing smears from individuals – different individuals that do not like me – have written articles that recommend I am a warfare felony. 

‘I’ve to observe my household’s good title be dragged by way of the mud for practically three years… Three years. My household’s good title. Every single day I’ve to consider that.’

Mr Roberts-Smith had spoken to his daughters’ faculty principal about their wellbeing after the articles have been revealed. He upgraded safety at their house by putting in video cameras and sensors. 

‘Every single day I take into consideration what is going on to occur to my youngsters. What are individuals going to do or say to my youngsters? What’s the legacy of my household now due to these articles?’

‘It was and it’s one thing that simply crushes me, crushes my soul, as a result of I gave a lot to that job. And it is all lies.’

The primary articles in June 2018 had used the pseudonym Leonidas, however Mr Roberts-Smith was simply identifiable by descriptions of his towering top, connections with army brass and a Spartan helmet tattoo on his ribcage.

Leonidas was a Spartan warrior-king whose exploits featured within the movie 300. On the climax of the film an enemy soldier was kicked off a precipice, an allegation levelled in opposition to Mr Roberts-Smith by 9.

Mr Roberts-Smith was again within the Federal Court docket witness field in Sydney on Wednesday giving proof in his defamation ‘trial of the century’ in opposition to 9 newspapers.

The papers have accused the Victoria Cross recipient of committing warfare crimes together with homicide throughout his a number of deployments with the elite Particular Air Service in Afghanistan.

Mr Roberts-Smith has denied a 9 allegation he had buried USB sticks inside a pink plastic kid’s lunch field in his yard to cover them from police and army investigators. 

He instructed the court docket that between mid 2019 and January this yr he had acquired 4 or 5 USB sticks containing pictures anonymously within the mail.

‘In the primary the pictures have been merely of the SAS operators themselves, so the fellows simply out in Afghanistan,’ he mentioned. ‘They usually have been fairly benign.

‘There have been a variety of pictures of the Fats Girl’s Arms and a lot of events.’

The Fats Girl’s Arms was an unofficial bar on the SAS base in Tarin Kowt and images have emerged of troopers ingesting there from a prosthetic leg souvenired in battle.

Mr Roberts-Smith mentioned he had positioned the primary USBs he acquired in a Tupperware container which he put within the high drawer of his Sunshine Coast house.

When he completely cut up from his spouse in late January 2020 the USBs have been nonetheless in that drawer.

In June that yr Mr Roberts-Smith had gone to the home to go to his youngsters and had picked up the USBs and private information. He downloaded the pictures onto a laptop computer and despatched all the photographs to his lawyer, Mark O’Brien.

He later cleared the laptop computer earlier than buying and selling it in to purchase a brand new one.

Mr Roberts-Smith had earlier defined his spouse had been buddies with a girl known as Danielle Scott who she had identified since faculty.

‘It got here to my consideration that my spouse and her buddy Danielle Scott had entry to the USBs for a lot of months earlier than I’ve recovered them,’ he instructed the court docket.

Mr Roberts-Smith mentioned after newspaper experiences started showing about his service in Afghanistan he had requested Ms Scott to acquire pre-paid cellphones for him, which he used to name former comrades.

‘My view was that I simply wanted to speak on one thing that wasn’t going to be compromised by the media after which used in opposition to me once more in another article.’

Ms Scott, a former Australia Put up worker, had additionally helped Mr Roberts-Smith after he acquired an nameless letter in December 2017.

The letter, which Mr Roberts-Smith believed was written by his mistress, mentioned he had been seen in a resort with a girl aside from his spouse and he ought to return to her and search marriage counselling.

Mr Roberts-Smith had requested if Ms Scott had any information of how the letter and its envelope may very well be analysed. 

Mr Roberts-Smith gave additional proof about his dealings with Queensland non-public investigator John McLeod.

Mr McLeod is a ‘fixer’ who runs a Brisbane-based non-public safety consultancy known as Tora Options which amongst different providers helps Australians get out of international jails.

He was concerned in bringing little one retrieval professional Adam Whittington house from Beirut after 4 months in jail following the botched 60 Minutes rescue operation in 2016.

He was additionally reportedly concerned within the launch of Melbourne tutorial Kylie Moore-Gilbert from Iran the place she was being held on trumped-up spying fees final yr.

Most famously, the previous policeman ran interference for drug smuggler Schapelle Corby when media have been making an attempt to report on her return from Bali to Queensland in 2017.   

Mr Roberts-Smith mentioned he engaged Mr McLeod’s providers when he learnt former comrades had been alleging misconduct by him throughout his service in Afghanistan. 

Believing he had recognized six SAS members who have been talking to reporters – in opposition to Defence laws – he requested Mr McLeod to acquire their addresses.

He was then going to rent Western Australian non-public investigators to seek out out if they’d been speaking to the media. The SAS relies in Perth.

Earlier than doing so he had tried unsuccessfully to get senior SAS officers and non-commissioned officers to speak to him about what he noticed as a destructive ‘whispering marketing campaign’.

‘The underside line is I felt I used to be being attacked publicly within the press and had no approach of defending myself,’ he mentioned. 

The 42-year-old had not needed to straight contact members of the regiment as a result of he now not knew who to belief. 

He was additionally involved some SAS members had the information and abilities to intercept digital communications and was frightened media would possibly do the identical. 

Mr Roberts-Smith had gone to Mr McLeod as a result of he knew him to be a personal investigator who had good contacts in state and federal police forces. 

He mentioned he gave Mr McLeod six names and requested him if he might discover corresponding house addresses so he might discover out what was happening.

Mr Roberts-Smith instructed the court docket he had no intention of threatening these troopers and Mr McLeod had by no means supplied addresses for any of the six males.

He mentioned he had by no means contacted or ordered surveillance on the troopers, often known as Individuals 1, 6, 18, 42, 44 and one other particular person, and denied giving Mr McLeod a threatening letter to ship to Particular person 18. 

Mr McLeod is listed to present proof for 9 throughout the listening to however legal professionals for Mr Roberts-Smith have had hassle discovering him to serve subpoenas for the trial.  

Mr Roberts-Smith beforehand instructed the court docket he employed Mr McLeod to comply with his mistress to hospital after she instructed him she was going to abort their little one.

He mentioned on Tuesday he had not believed the girl, often known as Particular person 17, was pregnant and so requested Mr McLeod to movie her attending a Brisbane hospital.

Mr Roberts-Smith mentioned he had separated from his spouse on the finish of September 2017 and met Particular person 17 the subsequent month.

Mr Roberts-Smith didn’t inform his spouse concerning the relationship till they travelled to Singapore with their two youngsters in January 2018 to see if they might work by way of points which had plagued their marriage since 2015.

The couple’s separation continued after that journey however the pair felt they needed to maintain making an attempt to make their marriage work.

In February 2018, Particular person 17 and her husband had travelled to London with their youngsters, and when Mr Roberts-Smith broke off the affair he mentioned she threatened self-harm.

Later in February again in Australia Particular person 17 instructed Mr Roberts-Smith she was pregnant however he didn’t consider her and employed Mr McLeod to seek out out if she was. 

Mr Roberts-Smith mentioned Mr McLeod adopted Particular person 17 to Brisbane’s Greenslopes Personal Hospital the place she was to bear an abortion. 

The video Mr McLeod filmed on the hospital satisfied Mr Roberts-Smith that Particular person 17 had made up the abortion story. 

‘It turned evident that she actually had not had a process that day,’ he instructed the court docket. 

When Mr Roberts-Smith confronted Particular person 17 she first mentioned she had undergone an abortion in Townsville after which that she had miscarried.

The pair continued their relationship however he mentioned t ended because of a operate they attended on March 28 hosted by then prime minister Malcolm Turnbull at Parliament Home. 

The court docket heard Particular person 17 turned so intoxicated on the operate she fell down a set of stairs resulting in an underground automobile park and suffered critical accidents to her face.

9 newspapers later revealed a narrative claiming Mr Roberts-Smith had argued with Particular person 17 after the operate and was indignant out of concern she had uncovered their affair. 

The papers declare that in response to Particular person 17 saying, ‘My head hurts’, Mr Roberts-Smith had mentioned, ‘It may harm extra’ or ‘I will present you what harm is’ and punched her within the left eye. 

Mr Roberts-Smith denied ever hitting Particular person 17 and mentioned home violence was ‘deplorable’ and ‘a disgusting act of of cowardice’. 

Mr McClintock has mentioned the girl made no allegation of assault in opposition to his shopper till after he ended their relationship.

Mr McClintock mentioned 9 was falsely alleging Mr Roberts-Smith had punched Particular person 17 in precisely the identical place the place she had been injured within the fall.

Nicholas Owens SC, for 9, instructed the court docket that the day after the Parliament Home incident Mr Roberts-Smith and Particular person 17 exchanged textual content messages about what had occurred.

She had written: ‘I really feel terrible. I made a health care provider’s appointment for this afternoon after talking to [her husband] and despatched him a photograph.’

Mr Roberts-Smith allegedly replied: ‘Does he suppose I did it?’

Particular person 17: ‘Yeah, he did to start with and he did not consider I had fallen down stairs. I simply instructed him what we talked about.’

She had additionally mentioned: ‘I’ve received another bruises together with a large one on my thigh on the identical facet of my physique which can hopefully make the falling story extra plausible.’

Mr Roberts-Smith allegedly replied: ‘OK properly hopefully he believes you.’ 

He instructed the court docket he had requested if Particular person 17’s husband thought he had hit her as a result of she was getting round with a big bruise on her head. 

Mr Roberts-Smith is suing 9-owned newspapers The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, plus The Canberra Occasions over allegations he dedicated battlefield crimes together with homicide. 

His case is being bankrolled by his employer, the Seven Community’s billionaire proprietor Kerry Stokes. 

The previous soldier has taken depart as common supervisor of Seven’s Queensland operations during the listening to. 

Final week, Roberts-Smith instructed the court docket his coronary heart was damaged when he was publicly accused of warfare crimes whereas serving with the SAS in Afghanistan.

‘I spent my life combating for my nation and I did the whole lot I presumably might to make sure I did it with honour,’ he instructed the court docket.

‘I listened to that and I actually can not comprehend how individuals, on the idea of hearsay and innuendo, can preserve that in a public discussion board. It breaks my coronary heart really.

Requested by Mr McClintock the way it felt to be particularly accused of homicide, Mr Roberts-Smith mentioned, ‘It is devastating fairly frankly.’

Mr Roberts-Smith’s proof adopted a short opening assertion by Nicholas Owens SC on behalf of the newspapers.

Mr Owens mentioned 9 newspapers would name 21 serving and former SAS troopers to present proof in opposition to their former comrade.

He needed to stipulate the core of the case so there may very well be no false impression about 9’s place.  

Mr Owens mentioned not one of the six murders 9 alleged Mr Roberts-Smith dedicated have been the results of choices made within the warmth of battle or beneath ‘the fog of warfare’.

‘None of these six murders contain judgement calls,’ he instructed the court docket. Not one of the killings happened because of confusion over whether or not somebody was an rebel or civilian.

Mr Owens mentioned every of the alleged murders concerned the killing of Afghans in custody and have been breaches of the Geneva Conventions which govern the principles of warfare.

‘The foundations of engagement beneath which Australian troops operated in Afghanistan have been – and certainly needed to be – in keeping with the Geneva Conventions.

‘And beneath the Geneva Conventions as soon as an individual has been positioned beneath management, regardless of that he could also be and not using a shadow of a doubt probably the most brutal, vile member of the Taliban possible, an Australian soldier can not kill him.’ 

Mr Owens mentioned Mr Roberts-Smith had over years tried to undermine 9’s proof by making an attempt to affect witnesses by way of emails and phone calls.

Mr Roberts-Smith served six operational excursions in Afghanistan with the elite Particular Air Service and left the common military in 2013 with the rank of corporal. 

He was awarded the Victoria Cross, the nation’s high army honour, for ‘selfless actions in circumstances of nice peril’ whereas searching a senior Taliban commander at Tizak in June 2010. 

Mr Roberts-Smith had drawn enemy fireplace away from pinned-down members of his patrol, stormed two enemy machinegun posts and silenced them.

He had beforehand been awarded the Medal for Gallantry for his actions as a patrol scout and sniper close to the Chora Cross in Could 2006.

In his lawsuit, Mr Roberts-Smith alleges the newspapers and journalists Nick McKenzie, Chris Masters and David Wroe defamed him in what was then the Fairfax press in 2018.

Amongst his claims is that the publications wrongly made out that he ‘broke the ethical and authorized guidelines of army engagement and is due to this fact a felony.’

Mr Roberts-Smith says the newspapers falsely implied his alleged conduct had disgraced his nation and the military.

9 Leisure Co, the media big which now owns the Herald and Age, is defending their journalists’ claims on the idea the allegations are true. 

The newspapers will plead that Mr Roberts-Smith was complicit in and accountable for the murders of six individuals in Afghanistan, and that these alleged actions constituted warfare crimes. 

Mr Roberts-Smith has been the primary witness of an anticipated 60 to be known as at what’s estimated to be a ten-week trial. 

The court docket has already heard Mr Roberts-Smith misplaced $475,000 in earnings from public talking engagements after he was accused of warfare crimes and home violence.

Mr McClintock mentioned the impact of these tales had been to ‘smash and destroy’ Mr Roberts-Smith’s beforehand exalted popularity. 

‘In 2018 when this materials was revealed there couldn’t have been a former soldier higher identified or extra extremely revered than my shopper,’ Mr McClintock instructed the court docket. 

Mr Roberts-Smith can be looking for aggravated damages as a result of in keeping with Mr McClintock, the writer knew a few of their claims to be false. 

The tales had been offered in a ‘sensational’ method, included ‘unjustifiable allegations of homicide’ and had not been withdrawn.

Whereas Mr Roberts-Smith was as soon as a lot in demand as a speaker, after the tales have been revealed even invites to Anzac Day ceremonies stopped.   

The previous soldier had additionally been provided a partnership in a giant accounting agency on a wage increased than he was incomes with Seven West Media. 

Mr McClintock mentioned it was ‘not a contest’ to set data for damages payouts however his shopper would want a adequate quantity to be compensated for the lack of his popularity and harm.  

‘The extra critical the assault the higher the amount of cash that is essential to vindicate,’ Mr McClintock mentioned. 

He mentioned an accountant would estimate Mr Roberts-Smith had misplaced $475,000 from talking engagements alone. 

Mr McClintock additionally confirmed former governor-general Dame Quentin Bryce, who had offered Mr Roberts-Smith together with his VC, wouldn’t be giving character proof on his behalf ‘for private causes’ however had by no means withdrawn her assist. 

Mr McClintock instructed the court docket his shopper had been the sufferer of jealous former comrades who falsely accused him of committing warfare crimes.

‘This can be a case about braveness, devotion to responsibility, self-sacrifice and maybe most vital of all, surpassing talent in soldiering,’ Mr McClintock instructed Justice Anthony Besanko.

‘Then again, Your Honour, it is a case about dishonest journalism, corrosive jealousy, cowardice and lies. 

‘It is also about how a person with a deservedly excessive popularity for braveness, talent and decency… had that popularity destroyed by bitter individuals jealous of his braveness and success as a solider, significantly his Victoria Cross, aided by credulous journalists.’ 

Mr McClintock mentioned the previous troopers who made claims in opposition to Mr Roberts-Smith had not spoken up till years after the occasions they now complained about.

He recommended a few of their claims have been made out of jealousy over Mr Roberts-Smith’s medals for gallantry and their very own failures as troopers. 

Mr McClintock mentioned one false allegation Mr Roberts-Smith murdered an Afghani, which was lately withdrawn by 9, ought to result in aggravated damages.