Ben Roberts-Smith’s teenage daughters were reportedly left “hysterical” after witnessing their father’s arrest in front of a plane full of passengers. Federal police removed him from a Qantas flight, creating a scene that shocked onlookers and deeply affected his 15-year-old daughters.
The twins were subsequently placed in a vehicle without being informed of their destination, as recounted by their grandmother, who described the distressing incident. The family had traveled from Brisbane to Sydney with Roberts-Smith and his partner, Sarah Matulin, intending to surprise the girls with a shopping trip during the Easter school holidays.
Roberts-Smith’s mother, Sue, detailed the event’s unfolding in an email to family and friends, sent mere hours after her son was detained and accused of war crimes. The Daily Mail has verified the legitimacy of this email.
The email’s recipients included former members of the Special Air Service (SAS), the elite unit in which Roberts-Smith served during his time in Afghanistan. His military service earned him prestigious honors, such as the Medal for Gallantry and the Victoria Cross, highlighting his decorated career.
The Daily Mail has confirmed the authenticity of the email.
Among the note’s recipients were former members of the SAS, the regiment in which Roberts-Smith served in Afghanistan, where he was awarded the Medal for Gallantry and the Victoria Cross.
Roberts-Smith, his parents, Ms Matulin and the two girls had a family breakfast on the morning of April 7 as part of what Mrs Roberts-Smith described as a ‘lovely Easter’.
‘…The girls were going to a surprise destination with Ben and Sarah because they were on holiday,’ Mrs Roberts-Smith wrote.
Ben Roberts-Smith’s twin teenage daughters were ‘hysterical’ after watching their father being arrested in front of a planeload of passengers and escorted off a Qantas flight by federal cops. Roberts-Smith is pictured with his partner, Sarah Matulin
The Victoria Cross recipient’s 15-year-olds were put into a vehicle and not told where they were being taken, according to an account of the traumatic event given by their grandmother, Sue Roberts-Smith. Mrs Roberts-Smith is pictured with husband Len
‘They were to have a day of shopping in Sydney, because they are 15 and they love shopping.’
Roberts-Smith, Ms Matulin and the girls boarded their flight in Brisbane and took off.
‘When the plane arrived on the tarmac in Sydney, the passengers could see police cars with blue lights flashing and numerous uniformed and plainclothes officers standing there waiting to meet it,’ Mrs Roberts-Smith wrote.
‘The police boarded while all the passengers were still in their seat belts.
‘The police went straight to Ben, they told him in front of all the passengers that he was under arrest and escorted him, Sarah and the girls off the aircraft.’
Also waiting to film Roberts-Smith’s arrest were representatives of Nine Entertainment, which had first accused him of committing war crimes in 2018 in a series of articles written by Nick McKenzie and Chris Masters.
‘My understanding is that Nick McKenzie was given a heads-up before it happened,’ Mrs Roberts wrote in her email. ‘Why?’
Mrs Roberts-Smith said her granddaughters and Ms Matulin were ‘distraught’.
Roberts-Smith was arrested when his flight touched down in Sydney on April 7 (above)
‘We received a phone call from Sarah who said, “I am in a police car with the girls, Ben has been arrested, the girls are hysterical,”‘ she wrote.
‘She was very distressed. She then said, “We don’t know where they are taking us and we don’t know what is happening to Ben!”
‘She was unable to speak with Ben. Apparently, Ben was very calm through this whole public display. His only concern was for Sarah and his daughters.’
Roberts-Smith was taken to nearby Mascot police station where he was charged with five counts of ‘war crime – murder’ allegedly committed in Afghanistan’s Uruzgan Province between 2009 and 2012.
The 47-year-old is accused of shooting dead one unarmed Afghan detainee, jointly murdering another with a fellow SAS soldier, and ordering subordinates to execute three more.
Roberts-Smith, who was granted bail and is living on the Gold Coast, has denied any involvement in unlawful killings or other war crimes.
His arrest was the culmination of a five-year joint investigation by the Australian Federal Police (AFP) and the Office of the Special Investigator (OSI).
The OSI was established following the 2020 Brereton Report which found ‘credible information’ that 25 Australian special forces personnel had been responsible for 39 unlawful killings in Afghanistan.
The Mail previously revealed Roberts-Smith had repeatedly offered to surrender himself at a time and place of the AFP’s choosing if the agency intended to charge him with any offence.
A Nine News crew filmed Roberts-Smith being escorted across the Sydney Airport tarmac
Roberts-Smith was taken to Mascot police station and charged with five counts of ‘war crime – murder’
‘My understanding is that [Nine journalist] Nick McKenzie was given a heads-up before it happened,’ Mrs Roberts wrote in her email. ‘Why?’
‘The AFP could have arrested BRS at the BNE airport [Brisbane Airport] without the flashing lights and the large police presence when they touched down in Syd,’ Mrs Roberts-Smith wrote.
‘Obviously, they want this to go back to the NSW Courts despite him living in Brisbane!’
There has been widespread speculation about why the AFP chose to arrest Roberts-Smith in NSW rather than Queensland, and where he would face the best chance of a fair trial.
NSW no longer runs committal hearings at which the prosecution brief is weighed by a judge to determine whether there is sufficient evidence to put a case before a jury, whereas Queensland still does.
When Roberts-Smith made a bail application 10 days after his arrest, the Commonwealth Director of Prosecutions submitted that he represented a flight risk if released from jail.
Mrs Roberts-Smith said that since war crimes claims against her son were first raised in 2018 and ‘constantly reported on by Nine and other media’, he had ‘travelled overseas on numerous occasions and always returned to Australia’.
‘He did so in the full knowledge of the reports of investigations into allegations by the AFP and OSI,’ she wrote.
As a result, Roberts-Smith had undertaken to surrender himself ‘to avoid trauma to his family and a media circus which would have the potential to impact on the conduct and fairness of any trial which might follow’.
Roberts-Smith served with the Special Air Service Regiment in Afghanistan (above)
Two days after Roberts-Smith was released on bail, he described his arrest as an ‘unnecessary spectacle’ while delivering a statement to media on the Gold Coast.
‘For the past 10 years, my family and I have been subject to a campaign to convince Australians that I’ve acted improperly in my service in Afghanistan,’ he told reporters, as Ms Matulin stood by his side.
‘As I’ve always maintained, I categorically deny all of these allegations, and while I would have preferred these charges not be brought, I will be taking this opportunity to finally clear my name.
‘I’m proud of my service in Afghanistan. While I was there, I always acted within my values, within my training, and within the rules of engagement.’
Roberts-Smith said he was proud of the Australians he had served alongside in Afghanistan and asked that their service not be forgotten, particularly those who had made the ultimate sacrifice, ‘many of whom were my friends’.
‘I’d like to thank my partner Sarah, my beautiful daughters, my mother and father, and all of Sarah’s family for their unwavering support, for standing by me during this difficult time,’ he said.
‘I’d also like to take this opportunity to thank the millions of Australians who have reached out to me, publicly and privately, to offer their support and well wishes. It means a great deal to me and is extremely humbling.’
Roberts-Smith attended this year’s Anzac Day dawn service at Currumbin Beach on the Gold Coast (above)
Roberts-Smith is seen attending an undisclosed police station in New South Wales on April 20
Roberts-Smith understood his case was ‘unprecedented’ and had attracted huge public interest.
‘But I would ask that the media please allow my family their privacy at this time, particularly my children, who have already unfortunately suffered through a deliberate sensational arrest that was made last week,’ he said.
‘An unnecessary spectacle.
‘I understand this journey will be long, I understand this journey will be difficult, but I can promise everybody that I have never run from a fight in my life.
‘I will never give up and I will always be in the fight.’
Roberts-Smith was named Australian Father of the Year by The Shepherd Centre, a children’s charity, in 2013.
He separated from his daughters’ mother Emma Roberts in January 2020 and they divorced in February 2021. Roberts-Smith has been in a relationship with 34-year-old Ms Matulin since late 2020.
Ms Roberts, who dropped the ‘Smith’ from her surname after the couple split, gave evidence against her former husband in his defamation case against Nine.
The AFP and the OSI have refused to answer questions about whether Nine was tipped off about Roberts-Smith’s arrest. Nine has also declined to comment.
Roberts-Smith has been excused from attending when his case is next mentioned on June 2 in Downing Centre Local Court.
