Ben Roberts-Smith swore at a superior officer and threatened him, saying “I should smash your face in” during a drinking session at the SAS’s unofficial Afghanistan bar, The Fat Ladies’ Arms, the federal court heard on Monday.
Roberts-Smith, a recipient of the Victoria Cross, is suing the Age, the Sydney Morning Herald and the Canberra Times for defamation over a series of reports he alleges are defamatory and portray him as committing war crimes, including murder, as well as acts of bullying and domestic violence.
The newspapers are pleading a defence of truth. Roberts-Smith denies any wrongdoing.
A serving captain – now a lieutenant colonel – in the Australian army told the federal court on Monday he had been invited to drink at the SAS bar in June 2006. When the officer overheard Roberts-Smith describing a firefight during a mission that day – “I was watching the expression on the guy’s face as the bullets came closer” – the officer said he turned to look at Roberts-Smith.
“What the fuck are you doing here? I should smash your face in,” Roberts-Smith allegedly told his superior.
He told the court a warrant officer in the bar responded: “Pull your fucking head in, RS,” using Roberts-Smith’s nickname.
The officer, known before court as Person 69 and giving evidence for the newspapers as part of their defence, said he was “shocked” to be threatened by a comrade.
“I was in shock, I had never been spoken to that way by a subordinate.”
“I’ve been threatened three times by my own team in my army career. I can tell you exactly the year, who it was and what they said. Because it had a profound impact on me that my own team would threaten me.”
Under cross-examination, Person 69 was questioned why he did not formally reprimand Roberts-Smith. He said he did not take subsequent action because he felt the incident had been sufficiently dealt with by the warrant officer, and there had been no further antagonism from Roberts-Smith.
Bruce McClintock, acting for Roberts-Smith, put it to Person 69 he took no action against Roberts-Smith because the incident never happened.
“It absolutely did,” Person 69 said.
The alleged conversation was put to Roberts-Smith in the witness box last year; he denied making the comment.
The court heard the alleged incident at the Fat Ladies’ Arms took place the night after Roberts-Smith and his patrol returned from a mission at Koran Ghar overlooking the Chora Pass. Roberts-Smith’s patrol had been engaged in a significant firefight, encircled on a mountaintop by Taliban fighters and only able to be extracted with significant air support.
Roberts-Smith and Matthew Locke, later killed in action, were both awarded the Medal for Gallantry for their actions on the mountaintop.
The trial last week heard from another SAS soldier on that mission, anonymised before the court as Person One. The court heard evidence Person One did not perform well during the mission. He had forgotten to bring oil for his machine gun, which subsequently jammed, and told the court he was abused by Roberts-Smith for endangering the patrol.
On Monday, Person 69 said the day after that mission he overheard an SAS soldier – whose name he did not know, – in a barracks accommodation telling another soldier about the Koran Ghar mission. The soldier said he had not fired on a young Afghan male who was seen walking across the mountainside because the young man was a reasonable distance away and “carrying no ICOM [radio], no weapon and no webbing”. The newspapers lawyers say that soldier was understood to be Person One.
Person 69 said he heard the soldier say that Roberts-Smith “started to yell and abuse me” for not firing at the man. The soldier said Roberts-Smith later returned with the late Sergeant Matt Locke and said “we’ve killed him”. Person one said he “didn’t know what to do”.
“I interjected [in the conversation] at this point,” Person 69 said, “and said, ‘you should probably tell someone about that’.”
The soldier who said he’d been abused said: “There’s no point.”
The soldier talked about his weapons stoppage, and said Roberts-Smith abused him again on their return from the operation and that “the patrol ostracised me”.
Person 69 said: “I’d never worked with the Australian SAS before and I was shocked that they weren’t a collegiate team. I’d worked with other special forces … everyone makes mistakes and I couldn’t believe a junior trooper would get abused for not (doing) the right thing rather than being supported.”
Person One told the court last week Roberts-Smith had threatened him after the Koran Ghar mission, telling him: “If your performance doesn’t improve on our next patrol, you’re going to get a bullet in the back of the head.”
He said he interpreted the comment as a “death threat” and “it made me fearful for my personal safety”.
Under cross-examination, Person One denied Roberts-Smith’s words were a warning he was in danger of being shot by the Taliban unless his performance improved.
Roberts-Smith has previously told the court the man he and Locke killed on the Koran Ghar was a Taliban spotter who was a legitimate target. In his evidence last week, Person One agreed the man could have been a legitimate target.
Earlier on Monday, another soldier, who has spent more than 30 years in the defence forces including a decade in the SAS, gave evidence on behalf of the newspapers that he took Person One on to his patrol in Afghanistan after he was removed from Roberts-Smith’s patrol following the Koran Ghar mission.
The senior soldier, Person 21, told the court he was tasked with assessing Person One’s performance and fitness to remain in the SAS after Person One had received some negative performance reviews.
“Initially, Person One didn’t want to speak about his experience in Ben Roberts-Smith’s patrol,” Person 21 said.
“Eventually he told me he was threatened and he did not feel comfortable or safe.”
Person 21 said Person One later told him that “Ben Roberts-Smith told me he was going to fuck me off out of the unit”.
He said Person One also said “something along the lines of … ‘he threatened to kill me’”.
Person 21 said he was disturbed by a lack of camaraderie and support within Roberts-Smith’s patrol. He said he had seen Person One and other soldiers “left to fend for themselves” as they prepared for the difficult mission on Koran Ghar.
Under cross-examination, Person 21 said Person One grew in confidence during operations together, and said he developed into a confident and capable soldier.
In his earlier evidence before the court, Roberts-Smith denied accusations of bullying.
“I’ve never bullied Person One,” he said.
He told the court Person One just wasn’t a “very good soldier” who wanted to cover up his poor performance.
“It’s always been the case,” he said.
“After the battle in Chora I said words to the effect that I didn’t think he should be in the unit and should probably be considering moving back to the regular army.”
Roberts-Smith said he never threatened Person One or swore at him.
The trial before Justice Anthony Besanko continues.
