Ben Roberts-Smith lied about murdering civilians in Afghanistan, deliberately hid potentially damaging evidence from a court, colluded with witnesses who supported him and threatened those who might give evidence against him, a federal court judge has found in an excoriating judgment to conclude the ex-soldier’s failed defamation case against three newspapers.
Justice Anthony Besanko found Roberts-Smith, a recipient of the Victoria Cross and Australia’s most decorated living soldier, murdered civilians while on deployment with the SAS in Afghanistan and lied in his evidence, under oath, before court.
