Once a hero to politicians and civilians alike, a court found the 44-year-old's reputation is now so lowered that two unproven allegations of battlefield murder weren't enough to defame him.
Five years ago, former Special Air Services Regiment patrol commander Ben Roberts-Smith was considered a national hero.
Now the 44-year-old's reputation has been lowered so far, a Federal Court judge found, that two unproven allegations of battlefield murder weren't enough to defame him., and found allegations of war crimes, including four unlawful killings, had been established. He also upheld that Mr Roberts-Smith "disgraced his country Australia and the Australian army by his conduct as a member of the SASR in Afghanistan".It's a far cry from former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull's comments in April 2018, when he called Mr Roberts-Smith a "great Australian hero".
After meeting with Queen Elizabeth II as a fresh VC recipient in 2011, Mr Roberts-Smith told reporters: "It is very humbling." The son of a former justice of the Supreme Court of Western Australia and brother of an opera singer, Mr Roberts-Smith grew up in Perth and joined the army at age 18.In 2015, he took over as general manager of Seven's network in that state, a company owned by another famous West Australian — billionaire Kerry Stokes.
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