The judge overseeing defamation cases brought by accused war criminal Ben Roberts-Smith will deliver his long-awaited findings next week, ruling on whether allegations of civilian murder in Afghanistan against the country’s most decorated living soldier are substantially true.
Soldiers who took the stand for Ben Roberts-Smith in his defamation case against Fairfax colluded on the evidence they gave of key events, counsel for Fairfax has told a judge as a long-running trial comes to a close.
Alleged war criminal Ben Roberts-Smith has won a bid to call a troop commander known as Person 81 in his defamation trial against Fairfax Media, despite the media company’s objections.
Ben Roberts-Smith, who is suing Fairfax for defamation, has lost an appeal of a judge’s decision refusing cross-examination of his ex-wife over allegations she accessed his private emails.
Embattled war veteran Ben Roberts-Smith continues to pursue legal action against his ex-wife, having applied for leave to appeal a Federal Court decision disallowing cross-examination over allegations she accessed his private emails.
Decorated Afghanistan war veteran Ben Roberts-Smith has accused his ex-wife of lying to journalists, lawyers and the court in order to “seek revenge” for his alleged infidelity.
Victoria Cross recipient Ben Roberts-Smith told his wife she would lose access to their children if she did not lie to his lawyers and the media about his extramarital affair, a court has heard.
Australia’s most decorated Afghanistan war veteran Ben Roberts-Smith told a former SAS soldier that when he “blew the brains out” of a young Afghan man it was “the most beautiful thing [he’d] ever seen”, a court has heard.
A SAS sergeant testifying for Fairfax Media in the Ben Roberts-Smith’s defamation trial has admitted he told an investigative reporter the decorated veteran machine-gunned a disabled man during the war in Afghanistan, but insisted everything he said was true.
It was common knowledge that SAS soldiers sought the retraction of a “bulls–t” commendation awarded to war veteran Ben Roberts-Smith for acts of bravery in Afghanistan in 2012, a trial in a defamation case against Fairfax has heard.