Ben Roberts-Smith’s ex-wife Emma Roberts describes confronting his mistress

Ben Roberts-Smith’s ex-wife has told of her confrontation with his mistress when she revealed their affair to her on the front lawn of the marital home. 

Emma Roberts said she spent three hours reading texts between the lovers before she withdrew $50,000 from the joint bank account she had with her husband.

Her husband’s lover had told her she fell pregnant during the relationship and she claimed Mr Roberts-Smith threatened she would lose custody of their children if she did not lie about the affair.  

Ms Roberts, who dropped the Smith from her surname after their split, stepped into the witness box in the Federal Court wearing a black dress on Valentine’s Day.

She has been called by Nine in its bid to prove Mr Roberts-Smith killed or was complicit in the murders of six prisoners while serving with the Special Air Service in Afghanistan.  

Ben Roberts-Smith’s ex-wife has told of her confrontation with his mistress when she revealed their affair to him on the front lawn of the marital home. Emma Roberts said she spent three hours reading texts between the lovers before she withdrew $50,000 from their joint bank account

Ben Roberts-Smith's defamation trial has taken another turn as his wife steps into the witness box to give evidence against Australia's most decorated living soldier. Emma Roberts, who has dropped the Smith from her surname, is appearing in the Federal Court in Sydney

Ben Roberts-Smith’s defamation trial has taken another turn as his wife steps into the witness box to give evidence against Australia’s most decorated living soldier. Emma Roberts, who has dropped the Smith from her surname, is appearing in the Federal Court in Sydney

Mr Roberts-Smith took several swipes at his ex-wife while giving evidence in the defamation trial last June. 'It's very sad that my my wife has involved herself in these proceedings, Your Honour,' he told Justice Anthony Besanko

Mr Roberts-Smith took several swipes at his ex-wife while giving evidence in the defamation trial last June. ‘It’s very sad that my my wife has involved herself in these proceedings, Your Honour,’ he told Justice Anthony Besanko

Mr Roberts-Smith has admitted having an affair with a woman known in the trial as Person 17 from October 2017 until April the following year. 

He has given evidence he separated from his wife in September 2017 but they eventually reconciled. 

Ms Roberts denied on Monday there was any separation or having knowledge of his affair with Person 17 until she turned up unannounced at their Sunshine Coast home on April 6, 2017. 

That day Ms Roberts had taken the couple’s children to an art class when received a phone call from her housekeeper Diane’s number but the person on the other end of the line was not Diane.

‘It’s not Di, I’m a friend of your husband,’ Ms Roberts said the caller told her. 

‘She asked me to come back to the house and that she wanted to see me.

Mr Roberts-Smith has admitted having an affair with a woman known in the trial as Person 17 from October 2017 until April the following year. Mr Roberts-Smith has given evidence he separated from his wife in September 2017 but they eventually reconciled

Mr Roberts-Smith has admitted having an affair with a woman known in the trial as Person 17 from October 2017 until April the following year. Mr Roberts-Smith has given evidence he separated from his wife in September 2017 but they eventually reconciled

Ms Roberts, who dropped the Smith from her surname after their split, stepped into the witness box in the Federal Court wearing a black dress on Monday - Valentine's Day

Ms Roberts, who dropped the Smith from her surname after their split, stepped into the witness box in the Federal Court wearing a black dress on Monday – Valentine’s Day

‘I asked her to tell me on the phone what she was going to tell me. She said no, she needed to see me in person.

‘I asked what her name was and she told me her name.’

As Ms Roberts drove home she called the housekeeper again and asked if Person 17 was still at the house.

‘I said, “Is it what I think it is?” and she said “Yes, Ben’s girlfriend”.’

Ms Roberts said she was severely distressed as she drove to the house and called her husband to ask about the identity of his lover. 

‘He said, “Who are you talking about?” I said, “Ben, she’s on our front door”.

When Ms Roberts arrived at the marital home her parents were sitting with Person 17 in the front garden.  

Person 17 was wearing a pink and black dress, black sunglasses and crying. 

‘Please remove your sunglasses so I can see your face,’ Ms Roberts said she told her. 

Text messages sent by Ben Roberts-Smith's former wife in support of the war hero before he was publicly accused of killing prisoners have previously been released. Ms Roberts is now giving evidence for Nine newspapers. The former couple is pictured in London in 2012

Text messages sent by Ben Roberts-Smith’s former wife in support of the war hero before he was publicly accused of killing prisoners have previously been released. Ms Roberts is now giving evidence for Nine newspapers. The former couple is pictured in London in 2012

‘She took them off and I noticed a black eye. I asked her, ‘What happened to your face?” She said, “I fell down drunk on a set of stairs at Parliament House”.’

Nine alleges Mr Roberts-Smith punched Person 17 in the head in a Canberra hotel room after a Parliament House function, which he vehemently denies. 

Ms Roberts said Person 17 also told her she had bruises on her hip but she did not want to be shown them. 

‘I asked her why she came to the house, what was it she wanted,’ Ms Roberts told the court. ‘I asked her whether she had come for money or whether she was going to the press.

‘She said, “I’m not a prostitute”.’

Ms Roberts said her husband was trying to call Person 17 but she took the phone from her.

”She said, “Would you like to see the messages that I have?”,’ Ms Roberts told the court. 

Ms Roberts had initially been on her ex-husband's side when he launched legal action against Nine newspapers after the publisher accused him of war crimes. She is pictured outside her Brisbane home

Ms Roberts had initially been on her ex-husband’s side when he launched legal action against Nine newspapers after the publisher accused him of war crimes. She is pictured outside her Brisbane home

Ms Roberts then spent the next three hours reading text exchanges between Person 17 and her husband. There were pictures of the pair together and pictures of the Roberts-Smith children.

‘It was very clear that they were having an affair,’ she said. ‘They were planning to be together.’

‘She told me that she had fallen pregnant during the relationship. She told me that it was definitely Ben’s because I asked if it was her husband’s.

‘I said, “Did you lose it or did you have an abortion?” and she didn’t answer me.’ 

Person 17 told Ms Roberts the last time she had been with her husband was the previous night. She had got the couple’s address by looking at Mr Roberts-Smith’s driver’s licence while he was in the shower. 

‘I asked her why she was not going to see him anyone and she said, “Because of this” [pointing at her black eye],’ Ms Roberts said. 

Ms Roberts’s mother then asked Person 17 if her son-in-law had caused that injury and she did not answer.

Mr Roberts-Smith had an affair with a woman known in the trial as Person 17 from October 2017 until April 2018. He claims he separated from his wife in September 2017 but Ms Roberts says that never happned. This picture was taken on December 31, 2017

Mr Roberts-Smith had an affair with a woman known in the trial as Person 17 from October 2017 until April 2018. He claims he separated from his wife in September 2017 but Ms Roberts says that never happned. This picture was taken on December 31, 2017

‘I asked her to leave and to never come back,’ Ms Roberts told the court. 

Later that day after picking up her children Ms Roberts had withdrawn $50,000 from a joint bank account and transferred the money into her parents’ names. 

That money was later returned to the couple.  

Mr Roberts-Smith had come home and discussed what happened with Person 17 with his wife. 

‘We stayed up until midnight,’ Ms Roberts said. ‘He told me about their relationship.’

Ms Roberts said despite all that Person 17 had told her she still wanted to save her marriage. 

‘I had made the decision to stay with Ben and try to work on our marriage,’ she told the court. 

A series of text messages between Emma Roberts and her friend Danielle Scott relate to evidence given by Mr Roberts-Smith's fellow SAS member Person 5 to an inquiry into alleged war crimes in Afghanistan

A series of text messages between Emma Roberts and her friend Danielle Scott relate to evidence given by Mr Roberts-Smith’s fellow SAS member Person 5 to an inquiry into alleged war crimes in Afghanistan

Ms Roberts said the only way the marriage could survive was if she claimed the couple had been separated while he was in a relationship with Person 17. 

‘I didn’t want to lie,’ she said. ‘There was enough lies.

‘He pointed to our daughters and said, “If you don’t lie you will lose them”. I knew at that point I had to lie for him.’ 

Ms Roberts had initially been on her ex-husband’s side when he launched legal action against Nine newspapers after the publisher accused him of war crimes. 

Mr Roberts-Smith took several swipes at his ex-wife while giving evidence in the defamation trial last June. 

‘It’s very sad that my my wife has involved herself in these proceedings, Your Honour,’ the Victoria Cross recipient told Justice Anthony Besanko.

‘And I take absolutely no joy in describing my wife in any way that is negative, but the reality is she is extremely bitter.

Earning the Victoria Cross turned Mr Roberts-Smith into a celebrity solider. Ms Roberts met the Queen and dignitaries including Prime Minister Scott Morrison while accompanying her husband to functions around the country. He is pictured with his then wife and the Queen

Earning the Victoria Cross turned Mr Roberts-Smith into a celebrity solider. Ms Roberts met the Queen and dignitaries including Prime Minister Scott Morrison while accompanying her husband to functions around the country. He is pictured with his then wife and the Queen

‘She has done things along the way that have been detrimental to my family, and particularly to me, because she thinks it will hurt me.’

Mr Roberts-Smith, 43, and Ms Roberts were married in December 2003 and have twin 11-year-old daughters. She is a couple of years older than her ex-husband.

They settled their divorce in February last year and she gave a statement to Nine a month later outlining the evidence she would be prepared to give against him in court. 

Mr Roberts-Smith left Ms Roberts in January 2020 and the former couple sold their home on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast for more than $2million in December 2000.

Ms Roberts is expected to give evidence about allegations Nine has made that Mr Roberts-Smith buried evidence inside a pink lunch box in the couple’s backyard. 

Ms Roberts has indicated she will claim Mr Roberts-Smith buried six USB sticks holding hundreds of photographs taken in Afghanistan. 

Her friend Ms Scott says that some time before March 15, 2020 Ms Roberts told her she suspected Mr Roberts-Smith had buried something on their property.

When Ms Scott visited Ms Roberts about March 16 the pair allegedly looked in the backyard to see if they could find what had been buried.

According to Ms Scott the pair noticed a rock on the ground under a hose reel and dug under it using a pitchfork. About 10 to 15cm down they allegedly found a lunchbox containing six USBs inside a plastic snap-lock bag.

Ms Scott copied the contents of the USBs onto her computer, the pair placed them back in the bag and re-buried the lunchbox.

According to Ms Scott, she was later contacted by the Australian Federal Police and provided a copy of the contents of the USBs to that agency.

Ms Scott says that on June 5 Ms Roberts told her ‘Ben is coming over to collect some documents’ and the pair discussed the possibility he was talking about the USBs.

After the call Ms Roberts sent Ms Scott four photographs taken of the area where they say the lunchbox had been buried.

Mr Roberts-Smith has denied burying the USBs in the lunch box.  

Text messages sent by Ms Roberts in support of her then husband before he was publicly accused of war crimes in June 2018 have also previously been released by the court. 

Ms Roberts says in one message to Ms Scott that ‘someone has said a hell of a lot about Ben but they also have to prove it.’

The texts from Ms Roberts to Ms Scott were sent a month before the first newspaper story was published. 

Ms Roberts has indicated she will claim Mr Roberts-Smith buried six USB sticks holding hundreds of photographs in a pink lunch box in the couple's backyard, which he has denied. She took this picture to show where she claimed the lunch box was buried

Ms Roberts has indicated she will claim Mr Roberts-Smith buried six USB sticks holding hundreds of photographs in a pink lunch box in the couple’s backyard, which he has denied. She took this picture to show where she claimed the lunch box was buried

The contents of the texts were first read in July last year as Mr Roberts-Smith gave evidence about what another SAS member known as Person 5 had told an official war crimes inquiry.

Person 5 and Mr Roberts-Smith were both being investigated by the Inspector-General of the Australian Defence Force (IGADF) at the time.

Person 5 had been Mr Roberts-Smith’s patrol commander in Afghanistan and was called in to be questioned by the IGADF on May 9, 2018.

He had been due to fly to the United States after giving evidence to the inquiry. 

Barrister Nicholas Owens SC, for Nine, suggested Person 5 subsequently revealed to Mr Roberts-Smith ‘in very great detail’ various allegations that had been made about his service in Afghanistan.

The court heard discussing what was said during such interviews was against Defence regulations.

Mr Roberts-Smith told the court Person 5, who was a close friend, had merely sent him a letter of complaint about his treatment by the IGADF investigators.

Part of that letter said: ‘They were pushing the fact that BRS wandered off whenever he wanted and did whatever he wanted’ while on deployment in Afghanistan.

Mr Owens read from text messages Ms Roberts sent to Ms Scott after Person 5 gave evidence to the inquiry.

‘Hey mate, [Person 5] rang BRS late [followed by a sad face emoji],’ the first message said. ‘He was drilled for hours! Lots of questions about Ben and even to the point of questioning his VC action [sad face].

Ms Roberts has indicated she will claim Mr Roberts-Smith (pictured in Afghanistan in 2009) buried six USB sticks holding hundreds of photographs taken in the country

Ms Roberts has indicated she will claim Mr Roberts-Smith (pictured in Afghanistan in 2009) buried six USB sticks holding hundreds of photographs taken in the country

‘Hence to say he didn’t get much sleep. [Person 5] was free to leave for the US with 5 hrs until his flight!!

Ms Scott: ‘So if they let [Person 5] go… that’s gotta be a good sign right?’ 

Ms Roberts: ‘Yeh. [followed by a thumbs-up emoji] It’s obvious that someone has said a hell of a lot about Ben. But they also have to be able to prove it.’

Mr Roberts-Smith has denied the texts showed he told his wife that Person 5 had disclosed detailed information about allegations against him which had been revealed while Person 5 was being interviewed.

‘It looks like she’s forming her own opinion which is reasonably typical of my ex-wife,’ he told the court.

Ms Scott has indicated she will also give evidence for Nine. Person 5 is listed to give evidence for Mr Roberts-Smith.        

What we know about Ben Roberts-Smith and his ‘trial of the century’ 

Ben Roberts-Smith is suing Nine-owned newspapers The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, plus The Canberra Times over allegations he committed battlefield crimes including murder.

His case, being heard in the Federal Court in Sydney, was expected to last ten weeks but has been delayed by Covid-19. It is being bankrolled by his employer, the Seven Network’s billionaire owner Kerry Stokes.

Mr Roberts-Smith served six operational tours in Afghanistan with the elite Special Air Service and left the regular army in 2013 with the rank of corporal.

He was awarded the Victoria Cross for actions at Tizak in June 2010 and the Medal for Gallantry for an earlier battle near the Chora Pass in May 2006.

The newspapers will plead that Mr Roberts-Smith was complicit in and responsible for the murders of six unarmed prisoners in Afghanistan, and that those actions constituted war crimes.

Nine alleges Mr Roberts-Smith killed insurgents who had been captured and none of the killings was the result of decisions made in the heat of battle.

Mr Roberts-Smith has also been accused of bullying other SAS troopers and punching a woman known as Person 17 in the face after a Parliament House function in 2018, which he denies.

The 43-year-old says some of his onetime colleagues who are making allegations against him are jealous of his feats of soldiering and are telling lies.

Mr Robert-Smith’s ex-wife Emma Roberts, the mother of his two children, is giving evidence for the publisher after ‘flipping’ sides.

Ms Roberts’ friend Danielle Scott and 21 serving and former SAS members are also listed as witnesses to be called by Nine.

Mr Roberts-Smith’s team will call evidence from witnesses including some of his former SAS comrades.

 

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