A former elite soldier has told a Sydney court war veteran Ben Roberts-Smith punched him in the face following a perceived mishap on a mission, before threatening to "f*** you up" if he complained.
Mr Roberts-Smith is suing The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age and The Canberra Times over 2018 newspaper articles, claiming they contained false allegations of unlawful killings, bullying and domestic violence.
Codenamed Person 10, a former Special Air Service Regiment (SAS) soldier called by publisher Nine Entertainment today recalled a 2012 mission in Afghanistan's Chora Valley, when he was a machine gunner in Mr Roberts-Smith's patrol.
The mission, during his first and only SAS deployment, was to "flush out" a suspected Taliban meeting area using an ambush, but was marred by radio communication problems.
The ex-soldier told the Federal Court he saw a fighting-aged male "acting suspiciously" around a riverbed while he was waiting in an unused building.
He recalled three quick shots being fired which "splashed" near one of his comrades and wasn't able to identify the exact origin.
The witness said he, Mr Roberts-Smith and another soldier, Person 22, moved across open ground to "marry up" with another patrol.
Person 10 said out of his peripheral vision he saw movement, assessing it to be a potential threat.
The witness said he started "drake shooting" — firing to prevent enemy manoeuvre.
The court heard Mr Roberts-Smith yelled "cease fire" before another patrol let off smoke to indicate its position, then a woman and child emerged from the riverbed.
When they returned to base, Person 10 alleged Mr Roberts-Smith walked into the patrol room and told him to stand up.
"He punched me ... in the left jaw," Person 10 said.
"It rattled me, I did not expect to be punched."
The court heard Mr Roberts-Smith said: "Nothing leaves this room."
Person 10 said "performance issues" were raised during a subsequent meeting, including an accusation he fired at fellow soldiers in a "blue-on-blue" incident.
"The accusation that I fired at a friendly call sign was simply false."
The witness said he later learned that the engagement had been started by a fellow Australian soldier.
After his return to Australia, he was given a notice to show cause and removed from the squadron.
He recalled a phone call from Mr Roberts-Smith.
"The crux of it was, and I remember these words, 'if you threaten me or my family I will f*** you up'," Person 10 told the court.
"My understanding was that if I state that he punched me in my notice to show cause, there would be consequences."
"What did you say?" Nine's barrister Nicholas Owens SC asked.
"I said I'm not a c***," the witness replied.
The court heard the punch was raised in his exit interview, but the complaint wasn't pursued.
Under cross-examination, Person 10 did not accept he could have killed a woman and child had Mr Roberts-Smith not told him to cease firing.
"Drake shooting is to find and fix a potential threat … and I believe I did that," he said.
Pressed by Mr Roberts-Smith's barrister, Arthur Moses SC, Person 10 insisted he fired at what he thought was an enemy insurgent.
"You accept, don't you, that you made an error on that day, correct?" Mr Moses asked.
"Mr Moses, based off the information I had at that split second in time, after we received incoming fire that nearly shot Person 22 in the head, I made the decision to fire, and I think it's the right one," the witness replied.
Person 10 denied he was "just spraying bullets" in a panic based on what he "thought he saw".
He told the court believed he was made a "scapegoat" for the "misunderstanding" on the battlefield.
Person 10 denied a suggestion from Mr Moses that he was giving a version of events to justify his separation from the Australian Defence Force.
Last year, Mr Roberts-Smith said Person 10 looked "glazed over" and "totally lost his situational awareness" during the mission.
He claimed Person 10 "giggled" during the debrief, and he punched him to reinforce the seriousness of the situation.
Person 10 has also recalled a pre-deployment drill in WA's Lancelin training area, where SAS soldiers were practising clearing mock compounds and one soldier was playing the role of a prisoner.
He told the court Mr Roberts-Smith twice ordered him to pretend to shoot the colleague, before declaring: "That's how it's going to be on the day."
When asked about the mock execution in the witness box last year, Mr Roberts-Smith said it "did not happen".
The trial, before Justice Anthony Besanko, continues.
