Ben Roberts-Smith witness Person 5 cross-examined over gunfire heard on Whiskey 108 mission

A key witness for Ben Roberts-Smith has been questioned over a smattering of gunfire he said he heard during a 2009 mission in Afghanistan.

A key witness for Ben Roberts-Smith has denied he lied in his account of an Afghanistan raid where two local men were shot dead.

Mr Roberts-Smith, a Victoria Cross recipient, is suing Nine newspapers for defamation because he says they falsely portrayed him as a war criminal by accusing him of executing one of the men, which he denies.

The witness, codenamed Person 5, denies ordering a junior soldier to execute the other Afghan.

Nine’s barrister Nicholas Owens SC continued cross-examining Person 5 on Tuesday after the former SAS patrol commander spent three days in the Federal Court witness box last week.

Person 5 was pressed on his account of the 2009 raid and about testimony he gave that he first learned of the two men’s deaths after gunshots were heard during a meeting with other team leaders.

The witness told the court he left the meeting upon hearing gunfire and that he spoke to Mr Roberts-Smith, who told him two insurgents had been killed in action.

Ben Roberts-Smith is suing Nine newspapers for defamation. Picture NCA Newswire/Seb Haggett

But Mr Owens put to Person 5 that he had stated in his outline of evidence to the court that he first learned the two Afghans had been engaged through a call on the radio.

Mr Owens said there was another inconsistency as well — in the outline, Person 5 had said he was on the way to the team leader meeting when he heard the gunfire, whereas he told the court he heard the shots while the meeting was ongoing.

The barrister accused the witness of “changing his story as he finds flaws in it”.

“This is another example of how you can’t keep your story straight,” Mr Owens said.

“No, that's not correct, I’ve just thought about it a lot more (since the outline was written),” the witness replied.

Person 5 denied Mr Owens’ assertions he in fact ordered one of the killings and that he was angry at Mr Roberts-Smith afterwards for doing it out in the open where they could be spotted by a surveillance drone that was recording video.

“You were worried it could have recorded the executions, correct?” Mr Owens asked.

“No, that’s not correct,” Person 5 replied.

The hearing continues.

Originally published as Ben Roberts-Smith witness Person 5 cross-examined over gunfire heard on Whiskey 108 mission