A serving Special Air Service soldier has denied “rehearsing” damaging evidence about Ben Roberts-Smith before appearing in the Federal Court witness box in the war veteran’s defamation case.
Person 14 told the court he could not identify any of the three soldiers, although one of them had camouflage paint or “campaint” on his face that was “the same, or similar, campaint style as Ben Roberts-Smith”. Person 14 agreed there was “potentially” more than one Para Minimi machine gun carried by soldiers on the mission in 2009, and said there was usually “at least” one.
Person 14 was asked by Mr Moses on Friday whether he had punched a female soldier from the US, an allegation he rejected as “absurd”. He insisted it was he who had been “towelled up” during an incident in 2012.