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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
National
Elias Visontay

Ben Roberts-Smith defamation appeal: no evidence ‘blooding the rookie’ could only mean procuring a murder, court told

Bret Walker SC Ben Roberts-Smith Anthony Besanko Murder Age The Canberra Times The Sydney Morning Herald Victoria Cross
Ben Roberts-Smith
Former SAS soldier Ben Roberts-Smith departs the federal court of Australia on 5 February 2024, the first day of his appeal hearing. Photograph: Flavio Brancaleone/AAP

Ben Roberts-Smith’s defamation trial was given no evidence that “blooding the rookie” could only mean procuring a murder, the war veteran’s lawyers have argued.

On Tuesday morning, Roberts-Smith’s barrister, Bret Walker SC, raised issue with Justice Anthony Besanko’s finding in June that Roberts-Smith, while a member of the Special Air Service Regiment in 2009, ordered a less experienced soldier to execute an elderly, unarmed Afghan man in order to “blood the rookie”.

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