Ben Roberts-Smith v the media: part seven, a hero’s downfall

Australia’s most decorated living soldier has lost his defamation case against the Sydney Morning Herald, the Age and the Canberra Times. A federal court judge has found that the newspapers proved in their defence that Ben Roberts-Smith murdered unarmed prisoners while serving in the Australian military in Afghanistan.Ben Doherty examines Justice Anthony Besanko’s full verdict which describes how Australia’s most decorated soldier lied to save his reputation