From army greens to prison greens: Ben Roberts-Smith's new look in court as he's branded a 'flight risk' after he makes his bid for freedom ahead of war crimes murder trial

By STEPHEN GIBBS, SENIOR NEWS REPORTER, AUSTRALIA and CHARLOTTE KARP, SENIOR NEWS REPORTER Published: 02:22, 17 April 2026 | Updated: 02:41, 17 April 2026 The nation's most decorated soldier has been branded a 'flight risk' as he appears in court dressed in prison greens at a bail hearing over his war crimes murder charges. Supporters gathered outside Sydney's Downing Centre on Friday with signs demanding 'Free Ben Roberts-Smith' and singing The Seekers' 1995 hit, 'I Am Australian'. The Victoria Cross recipient followed the legal arguments intensely as he faced court from custody via audio-visual link. Roberts-Smith had been held for ten days at the Metropolitan Remand and Reception Centre at Silverwater since his arrest at Sydney's Domestic Airport on April 7 and charged with war crimes. In court, Roberts-Smith's lawyer Slade Howell said the case was unprecedented because his client was a soldier who was deployed by the Australian government to fight a war on its behalf, only to be arrested at a domestic port over allegations dating back 14 years. The prosecutor opposed bail, telling the court that more charges were likely, the scope of the Crown's case was 'significant', and that Roberts-Smith was a flight risk because he had 'advanced plans' to move overseas before he was charged. He said Roberts-Smith was accused of multiple counts of murder and faces life in jail, and should be kept in custody for that reason. Every time the prosecutor suggested Roberts-Smith could interfere with witnesses, flout his bail conditions, or use burner phones to contact others involved in the case, Roberts-Smith frowned and shook his head. Pictured: A court sketch of Ben Roberts-Smith during his bail review on Friday Ben Roberts-Smith was taking his teenage daughters on a shopping day trip to Sydney when he was arrested getting off a Qantas flight and charged with murdering five Afghans Roberts-Smith, who will apply for bail today in Downing Centre Local Court, had treated his girls to an Easter school holidays expedition and none of the group had checked any luggage His lawyer Mr Howell told the court the criminal case would likely take years and keeping his client in custody would only delay the case further, partly because he would not have direct access to defence material which includes 'matters of national security'. He said there was nowhere in prison that could safely hold the classified documents, and nowhere Roberts-Smith and his lawyers could even discuss those details. 'The Crown's written submissions seem to submit that if it gets bad enough, in a couple of years, he can apply for bail then,' Mr Howell told the court. 'The prosecutor has put forward no evidence that the Office of the Special Investigator had even considered this as an issue of fairness before taking a position of opposing bail.' Mr Howell said the idea that his client could flee the country if released on bail was 'fanciful' because Roberts-Smith knew for years that he was being investigated and had never tried to abscond. Roberts-Smith has no criminal record, his family in Australia, and he has strong community ties, he said.  The prosecutor agreed the matter would likely take longer than most cases, and that Roberts-Smith would face difficulties accessing his own defence material from custody, but said that was not enough to mitigate the risk of his release. The hearing was adjourned until midday.  Earlier, Daily Mail revealed the 47-year-old was arrested and charged with war crimes shortly after getting off a Qantas flight for a shopping trip with his 15-year-old twins and partner Sarah Matulin. Roberts-Smith was arrested after a five-year joint investigation by the Australian Federal Police) and the Office of the Special Investigator. He is pictured with partner Sarah Matulin Roberts-Smith had treated his girls to an Easter school holidays expedition. All four were holding return tickets to Brisbane and travelled without checked luggage. Federal authorities knew he was making the journey and could have arrested him when he returned to his home state that evening, a source close to Roberts-Smith said. Roberts-Smith has been charged with five counts of 'war crime - murder' allegedly committed between 2009 and 2012 while he served with the Special Air Service in Afghanistan. He believes authorities chose to arrest and prosecute him in NSW because his case would be more likely to succeed there than in Queensland. NSW no longer runs committal hearings at which the prosecution brief is weighed by a judge to determine whether there is sufficient evidence to send a person to be tried by a jury. Roberts-Smith's lawyers believe if their client faced a committal hearing in Queensland, where committals are still held, the evidence against him might be considered too weak for a trial to go ahead. He was taken into custody after a five-year joint investigation by the Australian Federal Police (AFP) and the Office of the Special Investigator (OSI). Each of the charges against Roberts-Smith (above) carries a maximum penalty of life in prison. He has always denied involvement in any unlawful killings He is accused under the Commonwealth Criminal Code of shooting dead an unarmed Afghan, murdering another with an SAS comrade, and ordering the execution of three more. Roberts-Smith's arrest came almost three years after he lost a defamation action against Nine newspapers, which published a series of reports in 2018 accusing him of being a war criminal. The case against Roberts-Smith will be run by the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions and his defence funded by the Afghanistan Inquiry Legal Assistance Scheme.  Each of the charges against Roberts-Smith carries a maximum penalty of life in prison. He has always denied involvement in any unlawful killings. Two of the five Afghan men the former corporal is accused of murdering have never been identified by war crimes investigators. Court documents show one of his alleged victims is described only as 'Person Under Control 1', or alternatively 'Enemy Killed in Action 3'. Roberts-Smith is accused of murdering that Afghan male with another SAS member dubbed 'Person 68' at Syahchow in Uruzgan Province on October 20, 2012. Another alleged victim who is only known to authorities as 'Person Under Control 2' or 'Enemy Killed in Action 4' was killed on the same day in the same place. The Victoria Cross recipient, who also earnt the Medal for Gallantry while serving in Afghanistan, is pictured at Buckingham Palace in 2018 meeting Queen Elizabeth II Roberts-Smith is accused in a court attendance notice of aiding, abetting, counselling or procuring an SAS rookie dubbed 'Person 66' to shoot dead 'Person Under Control 2'. Three of Roberts-Smith's alleged victims are named in court documents, while two other former SAS members have been identified with pseudonyms as having killed detainees but are not charged with any offence. Roberts-Smith is accused of aiding, abetting, counselling or procuring Person 4 to shoot dead Mohammed Essa on April 12, 2009 at Kakarak in Uruzgan Province. He is also accused of intentionally causing the death of 'a person identified as Ahmadullah' at Kakarak on the same day. Mohammed Essa was the father of Ahmadullah, whose prosthetic leg was taken as a trophy after he was killed, and later used as a drinking vessel at the SAS's Tarin Kowt base. Roberts-Smith is further charged with aiding, abetting, counselling or procuring Person 11 to kill Ali Jan at Darwan in Uruzgan Province on September 11, 2012. Ali Jan was the shepherd Nine newspapers claimed Roberts-Smith kicked off a cliff before ordering his execution. Each of the alleged victims is described in the charge sheets as 'not taking an active part in hostilities' when they were killed. Roberts-Smith was apprehended in front of his twin 15-year-old daughters and partner Sarah Matulin as he arrived on a Qantas flight from Brisbane at Sydney Airport (above) AFP Commissioner Krissy Barrett and OSI director of investigations Ross Barnett held a joint press conference at the AFP's Sydney headquarters about an hour after Roberts-Smith's arrest AFP Commissioner Krissy Barrett held a press conference shortly after Roberts-Smith's arrest.  'It will be alleged the victims were detained, unarmed and were under the control of ADF (Australian Defence Force) members when they were killed,' she said. 'It will be alleged the victims were shot by the accused, or shot by subordinate members of the ADF, in the presence of, and acting on the orders of, the accused.' OSI director of investigations Ross Barnett said during the same press conference that prosecuting war crimes allegedly committed in Afghanistan was 'incredibly complex'. Mr Barnett said the OSI had been investigating 'literally dozens of murders alleged to have been committed in the middle of a warzone, in a country 9,000km from Australia that we can no longer access'. 'So, the challenge for investigators is - because we can't go to that country - we don't have access to the crime scene... ' he said. 'So we don't have photographs, site plans, measurements, the recovery of projectiles, blood-spatter analysis, all of those things we'd normally get at a crime scene. 'We don't have access to the deceased - there's no post-mortem, therefore there's no official cause of death, there's no recovery of projectiles to link to weapons that might have been carried by members of the ADF.' Former SAS member Oliver Schulz (above) was the first Australian soldier charged with a murder allegedly committed in Afghanistan The AFP and OSI have commenced 53 investigations involving allegations of war crimes committed by Australian soldiers in Afghanistan and 10 are ongoing. One investigation resulted in former SAS member Oliver Schulz being charged with murdering a man called Dad Mohammad at Deh Jawz in Uruzgan Province on May 28, 2012. Schulz was patrolling a wheat field when he allegedly encountered Dad Mohammad lying on his back with his hands and knees raised and shot him dead.   The now 44-year-old was arrested on March 20, 2023 and spent a week behind bars before being granted $200,000 bail in Downing Centre Local Court. Judge Jennifer Atkinson said any further time Schulz spent in custody would be 'onerous and difficult and dangerous' and it was likely his case would not go before a jury before 2025. Schulz has been listed to face trial in February 2027. Daily Mail asked the AFP, OSI, CDPP and Attorney-General's Department who had elected to have Roberts-Smith charged in NSW and whether that state was chosen to give the prosecution an advantage. An AFP spokesperson said: 'This was a joint investigation by OSI and the AFP. Investigators made the arrest at the most appropriate time and location for operational needs. No further comment will be made.' An OSI spokesperson added: 'I understand you’ve also received a response from AFP Media on this - just confirming that the OSI has nothing further to add to their response.' A spokesperson for the Attorney-General's Department directed inquiries to the OSI. The CDPP did not acknowledge receipt of the questions.  Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article.