Andrew Hastie recounts deadly SAS mission with Ben Roberts-Smith

Andrew Hastie gives dramatic evidence about an SAS mission where Ben Roberts-Smith is alleged to have ordered a soldier to murder an unarmed Afghan.

Andrew Hastie leaves the Federal Court in Sydney on Thursday. Picture: David Swift

Assistant Defence Minister Andrew Hastie has given dramatic evidence about an SAS mission in Afghanistan where Ben Roberts-Smith is alleged to have “blooded” a rookie soldier by ordering him to murder an unarmed Afghan.

Mr Hastie, who served in Afghanistan as a captain in the SAS prior to entering politics, told the Federal Court on Thursday that he passed Mr Roberts-Smith during the mission in Syahchow after hearing a radio call that shots had been fired.

“Mr Roberts-Smith walked past me … and he looked me in the eye and said ‘just a couple more dead c..ts’,” Mr Hastie said.

Just prior to this, Mr Hastie said, he had observed Mr Roberts-Smith’s patrol “tactically questioning” a number of Afghans up against a wall, through an interpreter.

Mr Hastie then went off with another soldier to a different part of the compound where he collected a weapon from a dead Afghan.

When he returned he saw an SAS soldier he knew well, identified in court as Person 66, standing off from the patrol looking nervous.

Person 66 has been previously identified as the soldier Mr Roberts-Smith allegedly ordered to kill an unarmed Afghan during the mission. Mr Hastie said he knew the man well as they were near-neighbours in Perth.

Ben Roberts-Smith. Picture Gaye Gerard

“He stood out because he was standing slightly off from the rest of the patrol, looking nervous, and I just met his eyes briefly and I just thought that’s not the person I know, happy-go-lucky, kind of classic sort of country Aussie,” Mr Hastie said.

Back at base, Mr Hastie ­attended a mission debrief with the squadron commander where Mr Roberts-Smith gave a “blow-by-blow” account of what had happened.

“I remember him talking about one of the insurgents reaching for a grenade and he was engaged and killed by the patrol. And I was thinking to myself, ‘Geez, I missed out’ … You know, you sort of want to obviously get amongst it and I thought, okay – I still hadn’t worked out, you know, that it’s an alternate universe that we’re in. I was still proud of Mr Roberts-Smith’s achievements and reputation. And at that point in time, I was, you know, probably naive.”

Nine newspapers have alleged in their defence to Mr Roberts-Smith’s defamation action that the Victoria Cross recipient committed six murders while on deployment with the SAS in ­Afghanistan, as well as an act of domestic violence in Australia against his former lover.

Nine alleges Mr Roberts-Smith ordered Person 66 to shoot one of the Afghan prisoners, which he did. After the incident, Mr Roberts-Smith is alleged to have said he had “blooded” the soldier.

Mr Hastie described Person 66 prior to the incident as a very bright, confident person, well regarded by his peers.

Mr Hastie also gave evidence that Mr Roberts-Smith had a reputation for bullying, in particular against a soldier known as Person 1.

In one incident in 2012, when he had just returned from Afghanistan, some soldiers had sat down for breakfast and saw Mr Roberts-Smith on the Sunrise program talking about mental health charities he was supporting.

One soldier said in a loud voice, so everyone could hear: “RS gave Person 1 depression, now he’s going to help him fight it.” Mr Hastie said everyone laughed.

Mr Hastie said on another occasion Mr Roberts-Smith had said he didn’t believe officers should be on the ground with soldiers. “Officers just get in the way,” he alleged Mr Roberts-Smith had said.

In emotional evidence earlier on Thursday, Mr Roberts-Smith’s former lover denied lying about photographs she alleges were taken of the two having sex up against the window of a hotel room, after being shown documents suggesting she told police the pictures were instead of the couple in bed.

The woman, known as Person 17, also denied she had engaged in “monstrously deceitful” conduct by letting the Victoria Cross winner think she was still pregnant with his child after having a miscarriage.

Mr Roberts-Smith and Person 17 had been having a six-month affair, beginning in October 2017, while both were married.

The woman had previously told the court she was approached on a beach by a stranger and shown photos of herself and the war hero having sex up against a window in a room at the Milton Hotel in Brisbane.

She said the mysterious figure had told her she was to tell Mr Roberts-Smith’s wife, Emma, about the affair, or the photos would be made public.

Mr Roberts-Smith’s barrister, Bruce McClintock, in cross-examination on Thursday showed Person 17 a police document that suggested she had told them the photographs in fact showed the couple naked in bed.

“That’s not what I would have told police because that’s not true,” Person 17 said.

“You have simply fabricated this story about having sex up against the window to account for the impossibility of photographs being taken in any other circumstances, haven’t you?” Mr McClintock asked.

The woman replied: “No.”

Person 17 had previously given evidence she became pregnant to Mr Roberts-Smith but that the couple had decided to terminate the pregnancy. Before that could happen, she said, she miscarried but did not tell Mr Roberts-Smith.

Mr Roberts-Smith said he felt he was being manipulated by Person 17 into staying in a relationship with her.

Person 17 agreed she wanted Mr Roberts-Smith to keep thinking she was pregnant but denied she had engaged in “a calculated campaign of deceit”.

Mr McClintock pursued the woman’s claims that she was distressed about the miscarriage, pointing to text messages she sent to Mr Roberts-Smith after the miscarriage but not mentioning it.

“Madam, this is a monstrously deceitful message, isn’t it?” Mr McClintock asked.

She replied after a pause, sobbing: “No.”

Mr McClintock continued: “You wanted him to think that you were still pregnant when you knew you were not, didn’t you? Didn’t you?”

Person 17: “I suppose so.”

When Mr McClintock suggested “the reason why you wanted him to think that was to keep a hold over him”, Person 17 said: “No, either way I was going to be terminating if I’ve not had a miscarriage.”

Mr McClintock asked: “Don’t you think it’s appallingly dishonest to let a man think you’re pregnant to him when you’re not? Don’t you?”

Person 17 said: “I suppose so.”

Nine newspapers alleged Mr Roberts-Smith punched Person 17 in the face after a function at Parliament House in Canberra in which she had got drunk and embarrassed him in front of dignitaries, including the Prime Minister.

Mr Roberts-Smith denies the allegations. He said the injury to Person 17 occurred when she stumbled and fell on the stairs outside Parliament House.