Ben Roberts-Smith’s lover has denied she engaged in a “deceitful charade” after telling a court she never confirmed her pregnancy with a doctor, concealed a miscarriage from the SAS soldier and then faked a termination.
Mr Roberts-Smith is suing Nine newspapers and journalists over claims he is a war criminal and domestic violence abuser.
He denies each allegation and Nine maintains their articles are true.
The latest chapter in the high profile defamation trial has seen his former lover, anonymised as Person 17, give confronting and often tearful testimony in the Federal Court.
She has told the court she fell pregnant to Mr Roberts-Smith in early 2018 and they agreed to terminate the pregnancy – though she was reluctant.
Mr Roberts-Smith’s barrister, Bruce McClintock SC, cross examined Person 17 over a series of messages she sent his client in the following weeks where they discussed “dealing” with the termination.
Person 17 told the court she had actually already miscarried but did not reveal that to Mr Roberts-Smith.
“There was nothing to deal with.” Mr McClintock suggested.
“Just because there’s nothing to deal with in terms of a termination does not mean there’s nothing to deal with when something like this happens,” Person 17 said.
“This is a monstrously deceitful message, isn’t it?” the barrister asked.
“No,” Person 17 sobbed.
“You wanted him to think you were pregnant?” Mr McClintock asked.
“I suppose so… I just didn‘t want to talk about it in these messages, he wouldn’t talk to me, we’d been fighting, I wanted to see him face-to-face,” Person 17 said.
Person 17, the court heard, told Mr Roberts-Smith she was booked in to a Brisbane abortion clinic and she visited the facility alone after the elite soldier told her he was busy with work.
She did not realise she was being followed and filmed by Mr Roberts-Smith’s private investigator, the court has heard.
The private eye filmed Person 17 coming out of the Greenslopes clinic and sent the video to Mr Roberts-Smith.
Mr Roberts-Smith told the court the video appeared to show Person 17 looking fine as she walked out the doors.
It confirmed his suspicions, he told the court, his lover had not had an abortion that morning.
Persoxjmtzywn 17 told the court she went to the clinic and used the bathroom inside the front door before she left the facility to meet Mr Roberts-Smith in a fancy hotel.
Mr Roberts-Smith told the court she appeared frail and had bandaged her arm by the time she arrived at the hotel – but finally told him she had not had the termination once confronted with the video.
The SAS veteran told the court he felt he was being manipulated, his barrister on Thursday called it a “campaign of deceit”.
Person 17 told the court she never bandaged her arm.
She also said she never confirmed she was pregnant with a doctor.
Rather, she told the court, she did an initial pregnancy test and a second one, at Mr Roberts-Smith’s demands, in the hotel meeting.
“I still wanted to see him face-to-face, I was still going through something awful,” she told the court.
Person 17 has told the court and police that Mr Roberts-Smith assaulted her in a Canberra hotel after a ritzy party at Parliament House the following month, in late March 2018.
The court has heard Person 17 drunkenly fell down the Parliament House stairs and hit her head after revealing their affair to military dignitaries at the function.
Mr Roberts-Smith denied he hit Person 17 and text messages, in the wake of the incident, were read out in court on Thursday.
“I‘m really glad to hear your injuries are not worse… I was legitimately worried last night,” Mr Roberts-Smith wrote.
“ I’m not going to bullshit you (Person 17), your behaviour has given me cause to think and I’m a little in shock myself. Aside from putting yourself in a dangerous situation I found it really disrespectful and inappropriate, but I acknowledge your apology.”
Person 17 responded saying it was “her fault”.
“Please don’t punish me, I’m already hurting physically and mentally. I know it’s my fault I hate that I can’t change what happened,” she told Mr Roberts-Smith.
Mr McClintock suggested Person 17 had not shown those messages to the police investigating the assault because they were “incompatible” with her allegation of assault.
She denied that.
Mr Roberts-Smith has told the court he was separated from his then-wife, Emma Roberts, during the six month relationship but Person 17 has told the court they were both cheating on their spouses.
The trial continues.
