David McBride's theft of 207 classified documents, which he then leaked to journalists, has been labelled "dangerous" with a prosecutor claiming it "may lead to hesitation in providing other material to Australia".
In the ACT Supreme Court on Monday, commonwealth prosecutor Trish McDonald said a secret document, not present in the courtroom but locked in the judge's safe, evidenced "harm in an operational manner".
However, counsel for the former military lawyer argued McBride was "honourable" and had sought to expose what he saw as "improper investigations" of special forces troops in "cynical window dressing".
