Australia’s most decorated soldier was “complicit in and responsible for the murder” of three Afghan men on deployment, a judge has said, elaborating on his finding against the former Special Air Service (SAS) corporal in one of the country’s longest-running defamation trials.
Ben Roberts-Smith, holder of the Victoria Cross and other top military honours, was also “not an honest and reliable witness in … many areas” and a bully towards other Australian soldiers, Federal Court Judge Anthony Besanko said in his full judgement released on Monday.
