Ben Roberts-Smith’s ex wife, Emma Roberts, has launched scathing testimony against the elite soldier detailing the “chaos” when his alleged mistress showed up at their marital home and “imploded” the famous family.
Mr Roberts-Smith is suing Nine newspapers and journalists over a series of articles he claims falsely portrayed him as a war criminal killer and a domestic violence abuser.
Nine stands by the articles and has called SAS witnesses to testify Mr Roberts-Smith committed or was involved in six unlawful killings in Afghanistan.
He denies each and every allegation.
Nine, on Monday, changed tack and put the SAS veteran’s former wife, and mother to his children, on the stand to testify about the dying days of their relationship.
Ms Roberts told the Federal Court she had suspected her husband had been having an affair late in 2017 when she heard a mysterious phone buzzing in the maxjmtzywrital bedroom.
She told the court she had noticed Mr Roberts-Smith switching off his phone while he travelled and taking lots of selfies – that were not meant for his wife.
Then, on their wedding anniversary in December 2017, Ms Roberts claims she found a letter in the family letter box.
“Where is this affair taking you?” the letter read, claiming Mr Roberts-Smith had been spotted with an unknown woman at a luxury hotel in Sydney.
“Save your marriage and your family please.”
The letter was signed off “a friend at 7”, the media network where Mr Roberts-Smith worked in Queensland.
Ms Roberts told the court she drove to Mr Roberts-Smith’s office at Seven and asked if it was true.
Mr Roberts-Smith denied he was having an affair, she told the court, and pointed the finger at a former SAS squadmate who is known to dislike the Victoria Cross recipient.
“We had dinner as a normal married couple (that night),” Ms Roberts told the court.
“In the back of my mind I knew Ben was lying to me – and I was terrified of what it now looked like.”
Ms Roberts became emotional, breaking down in tears while telling the court how the relationship began to unravel even further in the months that followed.
Ms Roberts said she was out one day in April 2018 when her housekeeper called.
But when Ms Roberts answered it was the voice of another woman – known only to the court as Person 17.
Person 17, Ms Roberts said, told her she needed to return home and refused to explain before the conversation ended.
Ms Roberts said she called the housekeeper back and the housekeeper confirmed her fears – the woman at their home was “Ben’s girlfriend”.
Ms Roberts drove home, the court heard, and saw Person 17 wearing large sunglasses in the garden of their Sunshine Coast home alongside her parents.
Person 17 removed her sunglasses, Ms Roberts said, revealing a black eye.
“What happened to your face?” Ms Roberts said she asked.
“I fell down drunk a set of stairs at Parliament House,” Person 17 responded, the court heard.
Person 17 was crying and said Mr Roberts-Smith wouldn’t see her anymore because of the eye injury.
When asked whether Mr Robert-Smith “did that to her” Person 17 did not reply.
Mr Roberts-Smith has long denied he ever laid a hand on the woman, saying abuse of women is an act of “cowardice”.
The SAS veteran’s lawyers say there is CCTV showing Person 17 tumbling down the stairs in Canberra and Mr Roberts-Smith stayed up all night making sure she was okay.
Person 17 showed Ms Roberts text messages with her husband revealing there was a relationship on foot including photos of the soldier’s children, the court heard.
Person 17 said she found the family home, Ms Roberts told the court, by reading the back of Mr Roberts-Smith’s licence while he was in the shower.
The soldier and Person 17 had spent the previous night together in a hotel, the court heard.
Ms Roberts said she ordered Person 17 to leave the home and never come back.
“It was complete chaos,” Ms Roberts said.
“(Person 17) said she’d fallen pregnant in the relationship. She said it was definitely Ben’s. I asked if she’d lost it or had an abortion and she didn’t answer me.”
Ms Roberts said she went to pick up the children, withdrew $1000 from an ATM and transferred $50,000 to her parents to “protect myself”.
“My life had just imploded,” Ms Roberts said.
The money would eventually be returned to the joint account.
In 2018 Nine published an article revealing the alleged affair and, Ms Roberts said her phone began blowing up with messages and called including one that just read – “you must be devastated”.
Ms Roberts said she searched the news and found the story before contacting Mr Roberts-Smith.
She claims her then husband told her they needed to do a story saying they had been separated throughout his relationship with Person 17.
Ms Roberts claims her husband ordered her to “lie” in the media and a journalist from was coming to their home to do a front-page story.
“He pointed to our children in the loungeroom and said ‘if you don‘t lie you will lose them’,” Ms Roberts said, becoming emotional.
Ms Roberts said a public relations manager from Seven called and asked what she’d wear for the photograph in the newspaper, advising her to “look sad”.
Mr Roberts-Smith has denied his relationship with Person 17 was an affair and maintains he was separated from his wife.
The trial continues.
