Roberts-Smith was taken to Mascot Police Station, handcuffed, and placed in a prison van to Silverwater's Metropolitan Remand and Reception Centre. He spent his first night in custody at Silverwater and did not appear in person at the NSW Bail Court. The matter has been listed for April 17 for a bail application.
Police allege the victims were detained, unarmed, and under Australian Defence Force control when killed. Media reports alleged Roberts-Smith kicked an unarmed Afghan civilian off a cliff and ordered subordinates to shoot him. He was also said to have taken part in machine-gunning a man with a prosthetic leg and used the leg as a drinking vessel.
Allegations that Roberts-Smith dragged a prisoner with a prosthetic leg outside an Afghan compound before machine-gunning him were backed up by numerous witnesses. A barrister said allegations about the murder of a prisoner with a prosthetic leg at Whiskey 108 were corroborated by four soldiers. Three witnesses gave 'strikingly coherent accounts' of Roberts-Smith manhandling the man before throwing him to the ground and machine-gunning him in 2009. A fourth witness saw the body and recognized the man as a prisoner from a tunnel in Whiskey 108.
The allegations are 'egregious' and driven by spiteful and jealous peers.
Media reports alleged Roberts-Smith ordered a junior SAS member to kill an unarmed prisoner to 'blood the rookie'. There was a 'powerful inference' the junior soldier put a suppressor on his rifle before shooting the man, implying premeditation. Roberts-Smith was alleged to have kicked a handcuffed prisoner off a cliff before ordering his execution near Darwan in September 2012. He was also alleged to have ordered the execution of a prisoner after a weapons cache was found in Chinartu in October 2012.
A Federal Court judge in 2023 ruled that reports Roberts-Smith committed four murders were substantially true. In 2023, Roberts-Smith was found in a civil defamation trial to have committed murder and other war crimes while deployed to Afghanistan. In June 2023, Justice Anthony Besanko dismissed the defamation case, ruling the media outlets had proven Roberts-Smith murdered four unarmed Afghans and broke military engagement rules.
An appeal to the Full Court of the Federal Court was dismissed on May 16, 2025. The High Court of Australia refused an application by Roberts-Smith for special leave to appeal on September 4, 2025 and ordered him to pay costs. The Federal Court upheld the original judgment that media reports alleging Roberts-Smith was involved in the murder of four unarmed civilians were substantially true. A panel of three justices dismissed Roberts-Smith's appeal and a last-minute attempt to reopen the case over a secret recording. The court found no wrongdoing in how the original trial was conducted.
He shot the man because he was a 'squirter' – a Taliban insurgent fleeing the compound.
Before the trial, Roberts-Smith had been Australia's most famous and distinguished living soldier. He won the Victoria Cross for 'conspicuous gallantry' in Afghanistan while hunting a senior Taliban commander. Roberts-Smith met Queen Elizabeth II and his image hung in the Australian War Memorial in Canberra.
Roberts-Smith is only the second Australian veteran of the Afghanistan campaign to be charged with a war crime. Former SAS soldier Oliver Schulz has pleaded not guilty to a charge of war crime murder. A 2020 military report found evidence that elite Australian troops unlawfully killed 39 Afghan noncombatants. The Office of the Special Investigator has investigated 53 war crime allegations, with 39 concluding without charges.
Roberts-Smith sued three newspapers for 2018 reports alleging he was involved in the murders of unarmed prisoners in Afghanistan. He denied the allegations and launched a multi-million-dollar defamation case. The defamation trial was one of Australia's longest-running and costliest, with legal costs estimated at about US$16 million. Roberts-Smith's defence was partially bankrolled by the boss of Seven West Media. Roberts-Smith faced paying tens of millions in legal costs, with the total bill likely to exceed $25 million (NZ$27m).
He does not dispute the killing occurred but claims it was lawful.
Historians have called for the removal of Roberts-Smith's displays from the Hall of Valour at the Australian War Memorial. The Australian War Memorial stated it will review the wording of the interpretive panel but keep the display of his uniform, equipment, and medals in place. The memorial updated Roberts-Smith's display panel to note the charges and that the legal process is ongoing. The memorial's director stated the update aims to keep the public informed while respecting the presumption of innocence. Roberts-Smith's equipment, uniform, and medals will remain on display in the Hall of Valour.
An Australian military veteran asked MP Bob Katter to return his medals to Canberra, feeling betrayed by the treatment of veterans. A retired US Navy SEAL called for Roberts-Smith's release during a live TV interview. High-profile figures including Elon Musk, Gina Rinehart, Tony Abbott, and Pauline Hanson have pledged support for Roberts-Smith.
Roberts-Smith was accused of domestic violence against a woman in a Canberra hotel, but the justice said this allegation was not proven. Roberts-Smith was photographed holidaying in Bali ahead of the ruling and did not attend court. Roberts-Smith had not been criminally charged and continued to deny all allegations.
Roberts-Smith is accused of failing to stop members of his unit from killing three others. This ruling could clear the way for a criminal investigation by the Australian Federal Police.