In Australian defamation court, a proxy 'war crimes trial' nears judgement

FILE PHOTO: Britain's Queen Elizabeth II greets Australian SAS Corporal Ben Roberts-Smith (L), who was recently awarded the Victoria Cross for Australia, during an audience at Buckingham Palace in London November 15, 2011. REUTERS/Anthony Devlin/POOL

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australian special forces soldier Ben Roberts-Smith was lauded as a hero and awarded Australia's highest military honour for "conspicuous gallantry" during a 2010 attack on two Taliban machine-gun posts during his fifth tour of Afghanistan.

But according to three newspapers, backed by accounts of other soldiers who said they were there, the Victoria Cross recipient also played a part in the unlawful killings of six Afghans during his deployment.