A wife, a mistress and a girlfriend: Trial exposed Ben Robert-Smith’s lovelife strife

Ben Roberts-Smith’s relationships formed a huge part of the monumental defamation trial, but the court found the ex-soldier did not punch his mistress in their hotel room.

Ben Roberts-Smith did not punch his mistress in their hotel room after the Australian of the Year awards in 2018, with Judge Anthony Besanko ruling the muscular ex-soldier’s lover was not “sufficiently reliable” as a witness.

The Victoria Cross recipient’s love life was a major part of the defamation case, on top of the allegations that related to his conduct with the Special Air Service Regiment during multiple deployments to Afghanistan.

Mr Roberts-Smith’s mistress, known throughout the Federal Court trial as Person 17 to protect her identity, was at the centre of an allegation of domestic violence against him.

The couple’s relationship began in October 2017 and lasted an eventful five months.

By the time their romance came to an end in April 2018, there would be claims of domestic violence, wild hotel sex, and a mystery man who had approached her on the beach and threatened to expose their affair.

Ben Roberts-Smith with his wife Emma after he was presented with the Victoria Cross. Picture: Getty Images

Emma Roberts-Smith leaves the Federal Court after giving evidence against her ex-husband. Picture: NCA NewsWire

The biggest incident of their relationship allegedly occurred at the 2018 Australian of the Year awards ceremony at Parliament House.

Person 17 drunkenly fell down a set of stairs inside the building, but claimed that after being taken home by Mr Roberts-Smith he had punched her in the head.Mr Roberts-Smith always firmly denied the allegation, and eventually an independent witness came forward to say they had seen his mistress fall down the stairs, and the woman’s claim was withdrawn by Nine’s lawyers.

After splitting from his wife, Mr Roberts-Smith began a relationship with Channel Seven colleague Sarah Matulin. Picture: Luke Marsden

Justice Anthony Besanko found that he could not be satisfied that Person 17’s evidence was “sufficiently reliable” to conclude she was assaulted.

A few months after that incident, Person 17 claimed to have been approached on a beach by an unknown man who pulled out a pair of photos showing her and Mr Roberts-Smith having sex up against the window of a Brisbane hotel.

She claimed the unknown man told her if she did not tell Mr Roberts-Smith’s wife, or the photos would be made public.

After their final romantic interaction on April 5, the woman arrived on Mr Roberts-Smith’s doorstep, where she told his wife Emma about their affair. Mr Roberts-Smith then texted the woman and accused her of “outright blackmail”.

At one point Mr Roberts-Smith was even linked to his solicitor Monica Allen, a suggestion they both denied. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Jeremy Piper

Mr Roberts-Smith’s relationship with his wife came to an end in January 2020, when they separated after almost 17 years of marriage.

They had only a few years earlier bought a large rural property in the Sunshine Coast hinterland, which became a point of much interest during the hearings.

Ms Roberts’ told the trial that she had witnessed her husband pour petrol over a laptop and set it on fire in the backyard of their property.

When asked why he had done this, the soldier said it was his usual practice and not a deliberate attempt to destroy evidence.

“Because if you don’t get rid of a hard drive, all of the data on the hard drive, all of your personal financial information, all of your passwords, all of your photos, can typically be pulled off it,” Mr Roberts-Smith told the trial.

Events in their home were brought into the trial again during Ms Roberts-Smith’s evidence, as she claimed to have dug up a pink lunch box containing 13 USB sticks from beneath the ground in their backyard.

Mr Roberts-Smith denied ever burying the USBs — which contained videos and documents from his deployments — to hide them. He instead claimed that the USBs were located in the drawer of the computer desk he and his wife shared.

After the split with his wife, and in the lead-up to the trial, a photographer captured images of Mr Roberts-Smith holding hands with his solicitor Monica Allen.

The images caused a significant stir and were even brought up during a pre-trial hearing by a judge.

Mr Roberts-Smith’s lawyers said the soldier would swear an affidavit saying he and Ms Allen were “not in a relationship — full stop”.

Around the same time it was revealed that he was actually in a relationship with Channel 7 colleague, Sarah Matulin.

The pretty young blonde and the hulking soldier were first seen venturing out together in 2021 and before too long were publicly an item, attending a Queensland race day together.

It is believed she was with him in Bali as he sunbathed by a pool this week, seemingly trying to get as far away from the events of the Queens Square Law Courts as possible.