A former SAS commander has denied having memory problems while standing by earlier comments he reprimanded Ben Roberts-Smith over a training exercise.
The witness codenamed Person 31 finished giving evidence on Tuesday at the defamation trial launched by Mr Roberts-Smith in the Federal Court.
The 43-year-old is suing The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald and The Canberra Times over reports claiming he committed war crimes in Afghanistan including murder, and acts of bullying and domestic violence.
The Victoria Cross recipient denies all the allegations the news outlets are defending as true.
Barrister Arthur Moses SC, representing Mr Roberts-Smith, questioned the witness on Tuesday about a brief conversation he claims to have had with the decorated soldier.
It followed a pre-deployment training exercise near Perth in 2012 where another soldier anonymised as Person Seven told Person 31 words to the effect: “Oh for f*** sake”.
Person Seven earlier testified he had just watched the former SAS corporal order a mock execution where one soldier pretended to shoot a fake Afghan prisoner.
That soldier – Person 10 – told the court last week that Mr Roberts-Smith ordered him to “shoot” and he eventually went “bang bang”.
“Are you good with that, because that’s how it’s going to be when we’re over there,” Mr Roberts-Smith allegedly told the trooper.
Person 31 said when he crossed paths with Mr Roberts-Smith he told him to: “Pull your head in, you can’t be doing s*** like that”.
“I recall him looking down, grunting, nodding and walking off.”
On Tuesday, Mr Moses submitted that he “never said” those words.
“Incorrect,” Person 31 responded.
“Do you have problems with your memory?” Mr Moses asked.
“No,” he said.
He said he regarded Mr Roberts-Smith as a professional soldier while serving alongside him in the regiment.
But as more accusations came “to light” from the war veteran’s own patrol members, Person 31 said his opinion changed.
This included the allegation that one of Mr Roberts-Smith’s squadmates had watched him kick an unarmed Afghan prisoner off a cliff in Darwan in 2012.
The former elite soldier blamed weak leadership within the SAS ranks for letting down Mr Roberts-Smith and his patrol members.
He felt a prompt inquiry into the alleged war crimes would have allowed all the men to move on, instead of “now dealing with this in court where nobody wants to be”.
Person 31 was also told that Mr Roberts-Smith ordered a young trooper to shoot a prisoner in order for him to be “blooded”, the term referencing a young soldier getting their first kill in action.
That soldier’s personality noticeably shifted after the alleged blooding, Person 31 said.
The trial before Justice Anthony Besanko is due to resume on Monday.
