A private investigator has told a Sydney court he severed ties with war veteran Ben Roberts-Smith after calling him a "weak dog" when he suspected he had been used to allegedly post threats to an elite soldier.
Mr Roberts-Smith is suing The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, The Canberra Times and three journalists for defamation in the Federal Court over articles published in 2018.
He denies allegations in those stories of unlawful killings in Afghanistan, bullying of colleagues and domestic violence, while publisher Nine Entertainment is attempting to establish a truth defence.
Witness John McLeod — a former police officer who runs a security consultancy company — on Wednesday recalled first meeting the Victoria Cross recipient in 2011 when he worked as a hotel security manager.
He said he became friends with Mr Roberts-Smith and his then-wife, Emma Roberts, who would from time to time rely on him for "mundane" tasks, such as organising electricians or security for their Brisbane home.
Mr McLeod told the court that, in 2018, he met Mr Roberts-Smith at a Bunnings store where the veteran handed him a blue folder with several sealed envelopes and scraps of paper with names on them.
He said Mr Roberts-Smith told him he was "under the pump" and requested he post them on his behalf, advising him he would provide addresses that night.
The court was told Mr Roberts-Smith provided an address for a former Special Air Service Regiment (SASR) colleague, known as Person 18, for two of the letters, but told Mr McLeod to throw out two other envelopes that were intended for another colleague, Person 1, because he was overseas on deployment.
Mr McLeod said he posted two envelopes in Tweed Heads and, about a week later, met with Mr Roberts-Smith who told him about media articles reporting elite soldiers had received threatening letters.
He told the court Mr Roberts-Smith said: "'They're not f***ing threats, it was just a touch-up'."
"I didn't understand what he was talking about," Mr McLeod continued.
Mr McLeod: "The penny dropped to me. I looked at him and said, 'If you put me in the frame, you've compromised me. You better get me a f***ing good lawyer'."
Mr McLeod said that he told Mr Roberts-Smith that if Mr Roberts-Smith had done something "stupid", he would be better to put his hand up "because the cover-up's 10 times worse than the offence".
He told the court that Mr Roberts-Smith asked him to "tell them … you're a supporter of mine and you were sick of the way I was being treated".
"I looked at him and said, 'F*** that, you weak dog', and I walked away."
Mr McLeod said he has since had no contact with the veteran.
Last year, the court was told that Person 18 received anonymous letters that spoke of "you and others" spreading "lies" to the media.
"You have one chance to save yourself. You must approach the inquiry and admit you have colluded with others to spread these rumours and lies about certain individuals, or you will become their focus," the letter read, according to the evidence presented.
Mr Roberts-Smith has denied authoring the material nor asking Mr McLeod to post it.
Mr McLeod told the court Mr Roberts-Smith also requested him for a "surveillance job" in 2017 or 2018 which he said was "for an exec at Channel Seven".
Mr Roberts-Smith sent him a photograph of a woman and requested video of her arriving at the airport and entering a Brisbane day surgery for an abortion, the court heard.
While Mr McLeod said he didn't see the woman at the airport, he later identified her outside a Greenslopes hospital and filmed a video of her leaving.
"Did you charge Mr Roberts-Smith for that surveillance?" Nine's barrister Nicholas Owens SC asked.
"I believe an invoice was sent ... [for] $1,500," Mr McLeod told the court.
Last year, the court heard Mr Roberts-Smith was having an affair with a woman at the beginning of 2018 and she had told him she was pregnant.
But when he was in the witness box, Mr Roberts-Smith said he didn't believe this and, suspecting he was being "manipulated", hired Mr McLeod to follow the woman to the abortion clinic.
The trial, before Justice Anthony Besanko, continues.
