Ben Roberts-Smith ‘extremely paranoid and obsessive’ over inquiry, courts hears

Ben Roberts-Smith became ­’extremely paranoid and obsessive’ after Nine Entertainment published allegations he had committed war crimes, a court has heard.

Victoria Cross recipient Ben Roberts-Smith became ‘extremely paranoid and obsessive’ after Nine Entertainment published allegations that he had committed war crimes while serving in Afghanistan, a court has heard. Picture: Sean Davey

Victoria Cross recipient Ben Roberts-Smith became ­“extremely paranoid and obsessive” after Nine Entertainment published allegations he had committed war crimes while serving in Afghanistan, a court has heard.

In a Federal Court judgment on Wednesday, judge Anthony Besanko said the war hero’s ex-wife, Emma Roberts, asked her former husband to “seek professional help” to address concerns about his alleged “excessive” drinking, anxiety and depression.

Mr Roberts-Smith, 42, is suing Nine newspapers the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age for defamation over a series of reports published in 2018, which he says portrayed him as a murderous war criminal during his time as a Special Air Service soldier in ­Afghanistan in 2009-12.

The decorated veteran has ­denied the allegations, while Nine has indicated it will defend the ­allegations using a truth defence when the matter goes to trial in Sydney on June 7.

The court heard allegations that Ms Roberts, who will give evidence on behalf of Nine, had leaked hundreds of images of soldiers drinking out of a prosthetic leg to the press.

The evidence from Ms Roberts is related to her deposition with the Inspector-General of the Australian Defence Force, as part of a wider military inquiry conducted by Major-General Paul Brereton.

“She states that following the commencement of the Inspector-General’s investigation, the applicant became, at times, erratic and suffered from mood swings,” the judgment reads.

“According to Ms Roberts, these circumstances coincided with an increased consumption of alcohol by the applicant on a nightly basis when he was in her presence.”

“The applicant asked his friend, an ex-army doctor, Dr (Parbodh) Gogna, to prescribe him beta blockers for excessive alcohol usage, anxiety and depression … Ms Roberts refers to the applicant’s behaviour when intoxicated. I need not set out the details.”

The judgment details how the pair sought counselling at the Psychology Cafe from October 2017 through till the end of 2018. Nine alleges Mr Robert-Smith’s assault of his mistress, who will be ­referred to in the trial as Person 17, took place in March 2018.

While psychiatrist Robi Sonderegger, who the subpoena was directed to, was not their counsellor, he holds the files for Psychology Cafe. Ms Roberts’s credibility as a witness is expected to be challenged by her former husband’s lawyers, who have previously said they will put to her that she is a liar during cross-examination.

Mr Roberts-Smith’s lawyers had sought to exclude this evidence being presented, but Justice Besanko dismissed the request, saying the documents were relevant due to their ability to ­address the alleged separation of the couple and Mr Roberts-Smith’s affair.

However, he did agree with Mr Roberts-Smith’s lawyers that the class of documents relating to Dr Gogna’s subpoena was “too wide” and extended to “irrelevant medical information”.

“There are unlikely to be documents in the medical file which are relevant to Dr Gogna’s proposed evidence as to the applicant’s character or the identification of him in the articles,” he said.