SAS soldier claims Ben Roberts-Smith threatened to shoot him in the head
A former soldier who served alongside Ben Roberts-Smith has testified in the SAS soldier’s ongoing defamation trial, claiming Roberts-Smith bullied and threatened to kill him during their time serving together.
The soldier, known as Person 1, told the Federal Court he was a victim of a seven-year intimidation campaign while giving evidence for Nine newspapers.
During the trial, the court heard of a mistake Person 1 made during a 2006 mission in the Chora Valley, with the same mission seeing Mr Roberts-Smith receiving a Medal for Gallantry for single-handedly fighting off 16 Taliban insurgents.
Person 1 admitted that his machine gun jammed at least three times during the mission because he forgot to bring his weapon oil.
His error later prompted a commanding officer to issue him a warning for “not performing to standard”.
The incident was followed by several alleged run-ins between Person 1 and Mr Roberts-Smith which the witness claimed became threats.
“[He] said words to the effect of ‘if your performance doesn’t improve on the next patrol, you’re gonna get a bullet in the back of the head’,” Person 1 said.
Nine’s barrister Nicholas Owens SC asked the witness what he understood Mr Roberts-Smith to mean by that comment, to which Person 1 replied: “That he was going to shoot me in the back of the head on the next patrol if my performance doesn’t improve”.
Person 1 told the court he lodged a formal complaint about the remark, which he said led to another confrontation.
“If you’re going to make accusations **** you better have some f***ing proof,” he claimed Mr Roberts-Smith said to him.
“Not only did I have to worry about the Taliban, but I also had to look over my own back at my own people,” Person 1 told the court.
He also claimed that even after he switched patrols and climbed the ranks, Mr Roberts-Smith described him to other soldiers as “incompetent” and a “coward”.
When they entered mediation in 2013, the soldiers agreed to disagree and shook hands.
Mr Roberts-Smith has denied the claims while giving evidence last year and said Person “just wasn’t a very good soldier”.
He also accused the witness of attempting to “cover up his poor performance”.
The soldier’s testimony comes as part of Mr Roberts-Smith’s defamation trial, in which he is suing Nine newspapers over articles alleging he is a war criminal.
Image: 9News