Unlawful killing 1The claim: The articles said that...

Unlawful killing 1
The claim:
The articles said that Roberts-Smith kicked an unarmed and handcuffed Afghan man, Ali Jan, off a cliff in 2012, where his landing was so rough that it knocked teeth out of his mouth. They said he then directed a soldier under his command to shoot him.

The evidence:
Nine called a number of Afghan witnesses who were arrested in Darwan that day and a junior member of Roberts-Smith’s patrol to testify the articles were true. Roberts-Smith himself and the soldier who shot Ali Jan claimed it was not.

What the court said:
Justice Besanko said that the newspapers proved this reporting was true.

Unlawful killings 2 and 3
The claim:
The newspapers reported that Roberts-Smith pressured a newly deployed and inexperienced SAS solider to murder an unarmed and elderly Afghan man in a tunnel, to “blood the rookie”.They also reported he murdered a man with a prosthetic leg with a machine gun in the same tunnel, though he had surrendered. He then was “so callous and inhumane” that he kept the leg as a novelty drinking vessel.

The evidence:
Roberts-Smith told the court that there was no one in the tunnel and that the men were insurgents killed in battle outside a compound. He also said the leg was souvenired by another soldier to drink beer from. Eyewitnesses for the newspapers said the man with the prosthetic leg was unarmed and it was, in the word’s of one, “an exhibition execution”.

What the court said:
Justice Besanko said that the newspapers proved this reporting was true.

Unlawful killing 4
The claim:
The newspapers reported that Roberts-Smith shot an Afghan prisoner aged between 15 and 18 in the head with a handgun, boasting to a colleague that it was “the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen”.

The evidence:
Roberts-Smith said this never happened. One former soldier testified that Roberts-Smith had told him it had, while another said the prisoner had been released unharmed.
What the court said: Justice Besanko said the newspapers did not prove this was true.

Unlawful killing 5
The claim:
Fairfax alleged that Roberts-Smith ordered an Afghan soldier under his command to shoot another prisoner in 2012, or direct one of his subordinates to. A member of the Afghan partner force then allegedly shot the prisoner four to six times.

The evidence:
Roberts-Smith said these events did not occur and that he had no authority over the partner force. He also called several soldiers who said the Afghan trooper was not even in the prison that day as he had been stood down for shooting a dog.But one later suggested Roberts-Smith’s lawyers had suggested these events to him. Fairfax had one eyewitness supporting its account, and another testifying the Afghan soldier was not removed from the troop.
What the court said:
Justice Besanko said the newspapers did not prove this was true.