One of Australia's most decorated soldiers lost a defamation lawsuit against three newspapers that accused him of involvement in the murder of six Afghans while on deployment, a stunning end to a case that lifted the veil of secrecy over the elite SAS.
The newspapers proved four of the six murder accusations they levelled at former SAS corporal Ben Roberts-Smith, but Federal Court Judge Anthony Besanko said in Sydney, "In light of my conclusions, each (defamation) proceeding must be dismissed."
He was delivering a summary of his findings on Thursday.
