The Ben Roberts-Smith defamation case is doing a brilliant job of remaining newsworthy.
In the last two days, Roberts-Smith has admitted he hired a private investigator and used burner phones.
According to The Guardian, Roberts Smith said in court that he hired a private investigator and commissioned the PI to check his alleged mistress was getting an abortion in Brisbane.
For her privacy and protection, the alleged mistress in court is being referred to as Person 17.
“I felt I was being manipulated and I didn’t feel the situation transpiring was real,” Roberts-Smith told the court.
However, the soldier-turned-media-executive said that despite Person 17 attending the abortion clinic, he did not believe she had a termination that day.
According to The Financial Review, the former SAS soldier alleged that when he showed Person 17 a video of herself entering the clinic, she broke down and said she’d already had an abortion and then changed her story to say she’d just had a miscarriage.
Roberts-Smith also vehemently denied claims he had ever punched Person 17.
“That particular allegation, coupled with being called a war criminal, ruined my life,” he said.
“I found it hard to leave the house. I have such disdain for those types of people, and to be labelled that, and to have to wear that, was just very difficult,” Roberts-Smith said.
The Guardian also reported that Roberts-Smith commissioned the PI to find the home addresses of the soldiers he believed were speaking to the media about him.
The Victoria Cross recipient alleged that he only wanted the addresses of his former comrades to establish if they were speaking to the media and “to provide that information to the defence so they could take the appropriate action”.
According to Bega District News, Roberts-Smith used prepaid phones to contact the soldiers he believed spoke to the media about him.
“I simply did not trust they (media) were not trying to intercept my communications,” Roberts-Smith told the court.
However, court documents have shown that he allegedly asked his PI to send a threatening letter to the home of a SAS soldier.
The PI has been subpoenaed to give evidence during the trial.
Even though the case is set to run for two months, it does not seem like there will be a dull day in court.
Featured image source: YouTube/ABC News
