Roberts-Smith a ‘mentor’ to acquitted Rolfe

BELEAGUERED former SAS soldier Ben Roberts-Smith acted as a “mentor” to NT cop Zachary Rolfe, who was put on trial for the shooting death of an Indigenous man in 2019, court documents have revealed.

Constable Rolfe, 30, was on Friday found not guilty of murder and other charges in the shooting death of Kumanjayi Walker, 19.

Mr Walker was shot three times by the officer in the course of an attempted arrest in a remote community. He died at a medical clinic about an hour later.

Mr Roberts-Smith and Constable Rolfe served in Afghanistan, with the policeman’s mother, Deborah Rolfe, describing the families as “good friends”.

Ms Rolfe, a partner at a Canberra-based law firm, vouched for Mr Roberts-Smith as an official character reference in his defamation proceedings against Fairfax Media. In the documents, dated June 28, 2021, she described the soldier, who denies allegations of perpetrating war crimes in Afghanistan, as “very kind and helpful” and a “mentor” to her son.

Before becoming a police officer, Constable Rolfe spent five years in the Australian Army, during which time he also served in Afghanistan.

Ms Rolfe said she first met Mr Roberts-Smith in 2011 at a store in Canberra.

“We spoke and ‘connected’ straight away, in part because Zach had just joined the Australian Army,” she said.

She said she grew close to him and his wife, Emma, through shared associations with the Australian War Memorial and returned service persons charity Soldier On.

“Our families subsequently became good friends. We met from time to time at charity functions and social occasions. In particular Ben has been very kind and helpful towards Zach, with Ben having acted as a mentor to him, and Emma and I became close friends,” Ms Rolfe said.

When news first appeared, with anonymous allegations, that a former serviceman had been involved in war crimes, she said factors such as Mr Roberts-Smith’s high profile and multiple tours of Afghanistan led her to believe it was him.

After he was named in the media as the soldier in question, she reached out to Emma via text.

“Omg Em, just saw the article today, you guys must be devastated, we are thinking of you, call me any time to vent!” she said. Ms Rolfe said she “did not believe” the allegations levelled against Mr RobertsSmith regarding the killings of detained Afghanis.