Multiple bombshells dropped in Ben Roberts-Smith case
Multiple bombshells have been dropped in Ben Roberts-Smith’s defamation trial, with a slew of documents released, a soldier considering no longer giving evidence, and a serving SAS member admitting he met with two Nine Newspaper journalists also involved in the trial.
New documents have been released by the court which give an insight into Mr Roberts-Smith’s relationships with his former wife, Emma Roberts, and a woman who has accused him of domestic violence.
The documents contain marriage counselling notes between Mr Roberts-Smith and Ms Roberts, medical records for the decorated soldier, and numerous text exchanges between him and a married woman known as Person 17.
Person 17 claimed she was assaulted by Mr Roberts-Smith at Hotel Realm in Canberra in 2018.
Mr Roberts-Smith has denied the claims, insisting she had fallen down stairs at an event they attended at Parliament House.
Some of the texts showed the intensity of their feelings and relationship prior to the incident.
“Your amazing (sic), you make me feel like I never have before,” Mr Roberts-Smith wrote to her.
“I know. As hard as I find being away from you - it’s the lying and pretending that’s doing my head in,” Person 17 replied.
The court heard that a month later, Person 17 hired a car and drove to Mr Roberts-Smith’s marital home to expose their relationship and confront his wife.
“What have you done, this is outright blackmail,” Mr Roberts-Smith wrote to Person 17.
“No. It most certainly is not blackmail. I’m not asking for or expecting anything from you,” she replied.
“Please don’t waste your time with intimidation or payback either. The benefit of seeing what you were capable of a few weeks back & knowing the threats you’ve made to me since is that I immediately put in place ‘insurance’ in the event that anything should happen to me or my family.
“I know you will blame me but I hope you’ll remember that we’re in this position because of what we’ve BOTH done.”
A text exchange between Person 17 (red) and Mr Roberts-Smith (blue) after she arrived at his marital home and confronted his wife about their affair. Image: Federal Court
Mr Roberts-Smith has denied ever threatening Person 17, telling the court she had lied on multiple occasions while his lawyers describe her as “fabulist”.
The court also heard a confession from a serving SAS member, who was forced to admit he met with two Nine Newspaper journalists who are also being sued by Mr Roberts-Smith.
The SAS member claimed one of those catchups was a complete blur, denying that he shared information about Mr Roberts-Smith.
With a former soldier also considering pulling the pin on giving evidence, the high-stakes trial is set to continue over the coming days.
Image: 9NEWS