Ben Roberts-Smith has denied shooting dead an unarmed Afghan with a prosthetic leg after ordering a junior SAS member to skill a second prisoner in a 'blooding' custom.
Australia's most decorated soldier was giving evidence in his defamation trial against Nine newspapers which accused him of war crimes in a series of stories published in 2018.
Mr Roberts-Smith has told the Federal Court he shot dead an Afghan man outside a Taliban compound known as Whiskey 108 at Kakarak in southern Afghanistan on Easter Sunday in April 2009.
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 accused by Nine newspapers of murdering six Afghan men which he has vehemently denied
Mr Roberts-Smith has denied two Afghan men were found in this tunnel and shot dead after surrendering. He told the Federal Court the men were killed in battle.
Mr Roberts-Smith has said his soul was crushed by allegations he punched a woman in the face and committed war crimes. He is pictured with his new girlfriend Sarah Matulin attending the Magic Millions races together on the Queensland Gold Coast in January this year
He later discovered that man had a prosthetic leg. In the same engagement, another SAS soldier had shot dead a second insurgent.
Barrister Nicholas Owens SC for Nine put it to Mr Roberts-Smith on Monday that both Afghan men were in fact found in a tunnel in the compound and taken prisoner after surrendering.
Mr Owens said a solder called Person 5 had told a soldier called Person 4 to shoot one of the prisoners, an old man wearing a white robe. 'That's completely false,' Mr Roberts-Smith responded.
Mr Owens said Mr Roberts-Smith or Person 4 had asked to borrow a suppressor to silence one of their weapons from a soldier called Person 41.
He claimed Mr Roberts-Smith forced the old man to the ground and told Person 4, 'Shoot him'. Mr Roberts-Smith denied all of it. 'That is completely false.'
Mr Owens put it to Mr Roberts-Smith that he then carried the prisoner with the prosthetic leg out of the compound, threw him on the ground and shot him with an extended burst from his machine gun.
He put to Mr Roberts-Smith that when he realised Person 4 had seen the execution he asked him, 'Are we cool?' Mr Roberts-Smith replied: 'No, that's a lie.'
Mr Roberts-Smith has told the court that two insurgents, including the man with the prosthetic leg, were shot dead in legitimate engagements during the mission.
Mr Roberts-Smith shot dead a man with a prosthetic leg on a mission in 2009. The leg was souvenired by another soldier and taken back to the SAS base where it was used as a drinking vessel. Mr Roberts-Smith (pictured) has denied ever drinking from the leg
Ben Roberts-Smith's Victoria Cross made him the most famous soldier in Australia but also allegedly led to jealousy among some of his colleagues. The Queen is pictured shaking hands with him during an audience at Buckingham Palace in November 2011
The man with the prosthetic leg had been armed with a bolt-action rifle and the other with a machine gun. He said no Afghans were found in a tunnel or taken prisoner and Person 5 had not discussed 'blooding rookies'.
The trial has previously heard that a soldier known as Person 6 who was one of Mr Roberts-Smith's 'enemies', souvenired the leg as a war trophy.
The leg was kept at the SAS base and used as a drinking vessel at the regiment's unofficial bar, the Fat Lady's Arms.
Mr Roberts-Smith has always denied having drunk from the hollow limb but said on Monday he had cheered with other soldiers when they had done so. It was an accepted part of the SAS culture and he had encouraged it.
Mr Roberts-Smith said he owned two glasses shaped like the prosthetic leg which had been given to members of his squadron and engraved with its number.
Mr Roberts-Smith's testimony was delayed on Monday while he awaited the results of a Covid-19 test after he visited a virus hotspot last Thursday morning.
The 42-year-old had worked out at a city gym about seven hours before a person with Covid attended the site.
He was contacted by NSW Health on Sunday, told to get tested and then to self-isolate until the department contacted him about the results.
Mr Roberts-Smith learnt late on Monday morning the test proved negative but the delay to the hearing cost litigants and taxpayers tens of thousands of dollars.
Nine newspapers published a series of stories in 2018 accusing Mr Roberts-Smith of war crimes including involvement in the murders of six unarmed prisoners.
The Victoria Cross recipient has rejected every allegation put to him and said he only ever fought with honour, within the rules of engagement in Afghanistan.
Under cross-examination by Mr Owens on Thursday, Mr Roberts-Smith locked himself into definitions of what would constitute war crimes.
All the Nine murder allegations relate to claims the former SAS soldier killed, or ordered to be killed, insurgents already in custody.
During his fifth tour of duty in Afghanistan, Mr Roberts-Smith (pictured) drew enemy fire away from pinned-down members of his patrol, stormed two enemy machine-gun posts and silenced them. He was awarded a Victoria Cross for his heroism. This picture was taken about an hour and a half after the battle
Mr Roberts-Smith was awarded the Victoria Cross for selfless actions in Afghanistan and is fighting for his reputation in the Federal Court, claiming his reputation was destroyed by media giant Nine Entertainment
Ben Roberts-Smith (second from left) pictured with his SAS regiment in Afghanistan where he was awarded the Victoria Cross for his heroism in a battle in Tizak, Kandahar Province
Barrister Bruce McClintock SC finished taking Mr Roberts-Smith through his evidence-in-chief on Wednesday. This is to be the defamation expert's last trial
Mr Roberts-Smith said he had shot the man, who was armed with a bolt-action rifle, with a two-round machine gun burst when he was already outside the compound.
He said if the man had been shot 10 to 15 times his injuries would have been far more substantial
