SAS veteran pleads guilty to hindering AFP after giving evidence in Ben Roberts-Smith lawsuit

An SAS veteran has pleaded guilty to hindering AFP officers after he had given evidence in the defamation trial launched by Ben Roberts-Smith.

A former SAS soldier who testified in the defamation trial of Ben Roberts-Smith has pleaded guilty to hindering Australian Federal Police after they confronted him in a Sydney hotel.

The case marks the first actions of clandestine war crime investigators - set up in the wake of allegations against some Diggers in Afghanistan - though no war crime charges have been laid against anyone.

A veteran soldier, identified only as “Person X”, testified in 2022 in the defamation lawsuit launched by Mr Roberts-Smith against Nine Newspapers over a series of articles published in 2018.

Dozens of serving and former SAS soldiers gave evidence under pseudonyms both for and against Mr Roberts-Smith during the mammoth defamation trial including Person X.

Person X was arrested last year, following his evidence, after being confronted by the AFP at his hotel in Sydney CBD.

An SAS veteran has pleaded guilty to hindering AFP officers after they confronted him with search warrants at a Sydney hotel. Picture: Supplied

The court heard police were there to execute two warrants on Person X, one for his phone and the other for his hotel room, but the former soldier wanted to call his lawyer and moved towards the elevator.

A CCTV camera, inside the lift, caught a glimpse of the AFP agents clustered around Person X as he tried to leave.

Magistrate Miranda Moody said the agreed police fact sheet showed Person X had acted like a “drunken fool”.

“He’d made a jolly nuisance of himself,” Magistrate Moody said, noting Person X had sworn and been very rude to the officers.

Person X, on Monday, pleaded guilty to hindering a Commonwealth official – the AFP officers.

The veteran‘s lawyers told the court he had been given one of the highest commendations for bravery in Australia for his heroic actions in the SAS.

The SAS veteran was arrested after giving evidence in the defamation lawsuit launched by decorated soldier Ben Roberts-Smith against Nine newspapers. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Damian Shaw

He had protected then-Prime Minister John Howard and other high ranking officials while deployed and his time in the SAS amounted to a “significant contribution to the community”, Magistrate Moody concluded.

Magistrate Moody dismissed the charge without recording a conviction against Person X.

The court did not hear that the AFP officers that awaited Person X in the hotel were acting on the orders of the Office of the Special Investigator.

The OSI was set up following the findings of a defence force investigation that concluded there was “credible evidence” that war crime murders were carried out by Australian special forces.

The OSI has done very little in public and has laid no charges - and there is no suggestion Person X is facing any allegations of war crimes.

Officers from the AFP sat in court on Monday as Person X pleaded guilty.

The veteran’s lawyer, Robert Ranken, told the court Person X had been under stress giving evidence and being cross-examined in the days before his arrest.

Person X’s evidence in the defamation trial cannot be revealed as part of a raft of suppression and non-publication orders to keep him, and other SAS witnesses, from being publicly identified.

The high profile defamation case, launched by Mr Roberts-Smith, made headlines around the world because he is one of the Commonwealth’s most decorated soldiers.

Mr Roberts-Smith received the Victoria Cross and Medal of Gallantry for his actions in Afghanistan.

Mr Roberts-Smith denies all the allegations and sued Nine saying they had falsely painted him as a war criminal.

Nine is defending the stories as true in the Federal Court.

Justice Anthony Besanko, the judge presiding over the defamation trial, has yet to deliver his verdict.

Originally published as SAS veteran pleads guilty to hindering AFP after giving evidence in Ben Roberts-Smith lawsuit