Love and war: Roberts-Smith denies fresh allegations of abuse, threats

Ben Roberts-Smith has denied claims he was ‘abusive and controlling’ towards his former girlfriend in the final moments of cross examination.

Ben Roberts-Smith has denied a new string of shocking allegations including that he blackmailed a girlfriend with naked images, threatened to burn her house down and even tried to shoot a dog from a moving car.

The final hours of Mr Roberts-Smith’s cross examination were held in closed court on Friday but not before Nine’s barrister, Nicholas Owens SC, accused the elite soldier of “abusive and controlling” behaviour.

The focus of Mr Roberts-Smith’s allegedly abusive behaviour was a girlfriend known only as Person 17 he dated at the end of 2017 and into early 2018.

Nine claims Mr Roberts-Smith was having an affair with Person 17. Mr Roberts-Smith repeatedly maintained he was separated from his wife at the time.

The newspapers also claim he punched Person 17 in the head after she got drunk and embarrassed him at a Canberra dinner with the Prime Minister and senior army officials.

“That story is completely fabricated, I did not hit a woman, I’ve never hit a woman,” Mr Roberts-Smith said on Friday.

The court has heard Person 17 drunkenly fell down the stairs while leaving the 2018 function in Canberra and hit her head before going back to the hotel with Mr Roberts-Smith.

Ben Roberts-Smith says Nine ‘fabricated’ a version of events where he assaulted a woman he was dating. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Joel Carrett

The barrister said Mr Roberts-Smith took partially naked photos of Person 17 while she was passed out in bed to have something over her.

“No, and that’s disgusting,” Mr Roberts-Smith replied.

Nine also claimed Mr Roberts-Smith had sex with the woman, but the former soldier denied this, saying she was said she was unconscious until the morning.

Mr Owens said the soldier concocted a “desperate lie” to cover up the assault, but the soldier maintained he was telling the truth.

The relationship was full of repeated breakups and issues, the court has heard. But Mr Roberts-Smith, on Friday, denied he ever threatened Person 17.

“Don’t f---ing abuse me again because it won’t end well,” the soldier wrote once to Person 17 in a text message read out in court.

“It was a reference to me hanging up and ending the conversation, which I did,” he explained.

Mr Roberts-Smith stood by his decision to hire a private investigator to follow and film Person 17 coming out of an abortion clinic because he felt she was lying about her pregnancy.

“I just wanted to know what the truth was because I couldn’t get it from Person 17,” he told the court.

That episode was the death of the relationship, Mr Roberts-Smith said, after the private investigator’s video showed a healthy looking Person 17 leaving the clinic.

Mr Roberts-Smith said Person 17 admitted she lied but insisted she had miscarried days earlier. Mr Owens claimed the soldier threatened his girlfriend in that conversation as well.

“I will burn your house down if you turn on me and it might not be you that gets hurt but people that you love,” Mr Owens claimed he said.

Mr Roberts-Smith denied it.

Mr Roberts-Smith told the court he was separated from his wife while dating Person 17. Nine accused him of lying. Picture: Department of Defence

A sideshow lawsuit launched by Mr Roberts-Smith against his former wife, Emma Roberts, was briefly heard on Friday before another judge.

That lawsuit came after Mr Roberts-Smith’s lawyers accused his former wife of accessing privileged and private information from his email and potentially passed it onto Nine.

“The reality is that (Ms Roberts) is extremely bitter,” Mr Roberts-Smith said of his former wife.

“She has done things along the way that are extremely detrimental to my family,” he said, adding he was saddened for his children.

Mr Owens said Mr Roberts-Smith told his wife to lie about when they separated – in both an interview with The Australian in August 2018 and in court – or she’d lose their children. He disputed that.

Among the final allegations put to Mr Roberts-Smith in open court was about a dog running alongside his armoured SAS vehicle in Afghanistan.

Mr Roberts-Smith had previously told the court an SAS soldier known as Person 2 had shot at the dog while driving and crashed the vehicle – damaging the steering arm.

Mr Owens said it was actually Mr Roberts-Smith who had shot at the dog but the SAS veteran said that was impossible because he was in the vehicle’s gun turret.

“It’s physically impossible to draw a weapon, particularly a pistol which I didn’t have with me at the time,” he said.

“You’re prepared to raise the most petty of grievances to smear witnesses (giving evidence against you),” Mr Owens said.

“That’s a bit hypocritical, Mr Owens,” the soldier replied.

Mr Roberts-Smith’s case could be halted because of coronavirus. Picture: Department of Defence

The trial itself could grind to a halt before it resumes on Monday due to Sydney’s coronavirus cluster.

It was anticipated Mr Roberts-Smith’s side of the case would close before Nine called defence witnesses next week.

But Mr Owens told the court on Friday morning that interstate travel restrictions had caused “to put it mildly, chaos” for his side of the case.

Many of the military witnesses live in Western Australia where the SAS is based.

Border restrictions make it impossible for them to get to Sydney.

Mr Owens is expected to ask for the trial to be adjourned until a later date.

SAS soldiers were expected to testify for Nine but interstate border closures have thrown the trial into uncertainty. Picture: Department of Defence

Mr Owens explained they could only attend court if granted an exemption to the WA “hard border” and most were not willing or able to quarantine for two weeks upon their return to their home state.

The barrister said he may apply to have the trial adjourned at the end of Mr Roberts-Smith’s case but the plan may not be clear until early next week.

Mr Roberts-Smith returned to the witness box on Friday morning where he faced more questions about bullying allegations from other soldiers.

He agreed he called one soldier “a coward” but said that was because he believed he was leaking to the media.

Mr Roberts-Smith’s trial is being held in Sydney’s Federal Court, which is in the middle of the coronavirus outbreak.

Cafes, gyms and supermarkets around the court have all been named as hot spots over the past week.

Mr Roberts-Smith, himself, had to briefly isolate after visiting one venue where a positive coronavirus case had checked in.

Everyone in the trial, who is not speaking, is wearing a mask.

Originally published as Love and war: Roberts-Smith denies fresh allegations of abuse, threats