Secret plan to sneak Ben Roberts-Smith out back exit of Sydney prison

NSW prison officers hatched a plan to sneak Ben Roberts-Smith out a rear exit, provided priority access for his partner and ensured he had regular exercise in a series of interventions for the disgraced former soldier that have thrown the spotlight back on the treatment of Australia’s highest-profile accused war criminal.

A cache of documents obtained by this masthead has also revealed the first photos of Roberts-Smith behind bars and how the attempt to smuggle the 47-year-old out of prison could have ended in “a very dangerous situation,” according to an email sent by a security manager after the incident.

NSW Corrective Services staff considered the alleged war criminal the highest-profile inmate they had ever encountered, defining Roberts-Smith as a “national security interest inmate” who triggered extreme “high-risk security escort protocols” in an attempt to ensure his safe exit on bail.

Instead, Roberts-Smith’s prison exit in April sparked chaotic scenes as prison officers tried to block media outlets from photographing him.

Silverwater jail governor Patrick Aboud led the convoy of vehicles used to escort Roberts-Smith and his partner, Sarah Matulin, from the correctional complex. Aboud’s vehicle was used to block the road as the pair left the facility. Several other vehicles escorted Roberts-Smith in an attempt to stop the media from photographing him as he was released.

The incident was the second time law enforcement has been hit with controversy over the handling of Roberts-Smith’s case, after the father of two was publicly arrested at Sydney Airport in April and charged with five counts of war crime – murder over the alleged killing of unarmed Afghan detainees.

The documents show prison officers had initially planned to escort Roberts-Smith and Matulin to the rear gate of the facility, before Aboud directed them to travel in convoy with him along a public road.

In advice sent to deputy commissioner Adam Wilkinson four days after Roberts-Smith was bailed on April 17, Aboud said senior staff had undertaken a “dynamic operational risk assessment” on the day to determine the “safest and most appropriate method of release”.

But internal department communications reveal Aboud, who personally escorted Roberts-Smith into his cell after he was remanded in custody shortly after his arrest, approved a plan allowing the decorated former soldier to leave via a back exit more than 24 hours before he was granted bail.

“It’s no issue if he is filmed/photographed as he exits – our only concern is getting him off complex safely and without creating any other security concerns,” a senior member of Corrective Services NSW’s media unit wrote in an email to Aboud on April 16.

“Media obviously won’t be told that he’s leaving via the back entrance.”

Two female Security Operations Group officers “temporarily exited their vehicles to impede media access and prevent interaction with the release inmate”, a review into the officers’ actions found.

The officer’s supervisor wrote he believed the officers were “concerned about the media blocking the car containing Roberts Smith in and an unidentified person jumping from the rear vehicle and running towards the vehicle containing Roberts Smith,” he said. “A very dangerous situation.”

Corrective Services were acutely aware of the heightened interest in Roberts-Smith, noting his case had garnered media scrutiny and political attention from One Nation leader Pauline Hanson, Liberal leader Angus Taylor and “billionaire’s media mogul Kerry Stokes and mining magnate Gina Rinehart”.

“Countless numbers of public sympathisers for Roberts-Smith have voiced their outrage of his arrest on various social media platforms,” a corrective services briefing stated.

The documents also offer an insight into Roberts-Smith’s time at Silverwater, revealing the strict policy in place to manage his time in custody.

Three days after Australian Federal Police officers arrested Roberts-Smith at Sydney Airport, the prison’s security manager emailed colleagues.

“Emotions are running high both internally and externally, but professionalism must remain our standard,” he said. “He is to be managed like any other inmate, respectfully and without unnecessary attention.”

The same security manager then personally intervened to ensure Roberts-Smith would receive his daily exercise.

“Hi, as discussed this morning over the weekend can you ensure BRS is offered his exercise each day?,” he said.

In advice to Wilkinson sent on April 21, Aboud said he directed officers to escort Matulin, Roberts-Smith’s partner, from the Silverwater complex to “mitigate risks” because she was not familiar with the facility’s layout.

“Any assertion that the release arrangements constituted special or preferential treatment is not supported by me or the operational facts,” he said.

“I stand by my decision and will do this all over again without fear or favour. The use of a rear exit and escorted release constituted a deliberate, risk‐informed, and professionally justified response to an exceptionally complex operational environment.”

Aboud’s only recommendation was that Wilkinson “note the circumstances of the release, the timeline of key operational decisions, and the risk-based rationale underpinning the actions taken”.

None of the officers involved in the botched escort, who said in statements provided as part of the review into Roberts-Smith’s release they had intervened because they feared for the former soldier’s safety, activated their body-worn cameras or submitted incident reports.

The review criticised officers for failing to activate their body cameras despite “it constituting a significant external security event”. It recommended officers activate body-worn cameras during incidents or significant interactions with members of the public.

“Just a reminder that we are limited with our powers to deal with these types of situation [sic] on public roads. No further action required,” Ken Pese, the general manager of the Security Operations Group, wrote to the officers on April 20.

In a separate email to a colleague, Pese said: “In future, we’ll need to advise our teams that we don’t have any powers on public roads so such actions are not necessary.”

Pese wrote to the officers on April 20, requesting they take part in a workshop with the Corrective Services NSW media unit to establish a protocol governing the release of high-profile inmates from Silverwater.

“It has been identified from an operational planning perspective that there is a gap in our procedures, especially when we are engaged to enhance the safety and security from a [Security Operations Group], perspective,” he wrote in an April 23 email.

Corrective Services NSW maintained that Roberts-Smith was not given preferential treatment in being escorted out of a rear exit. The documents, however, reveal the department’s scramble to contain the fallout as pressure mounted over its handling of his release.

The department was hit with a barrage of questions from the ABC, The Daily Telegraph and this masthead in the wake of the incident, but it was not until three days later that it ordered an “After Action Review” into what had taken place.

The outcome of the review was not made public until documents requested by this masthead were released on Wednesday.

“The review determined that officers acted with the intent of ensuring safety and security of Mr Roberts-Smith, staff and members of the public (including the media),” the documents state. “However, procedural and compliance requirements were not fully met.”

In a statement issued in response to documents’ release, a Corrective Services NSW spokesperson said staff were undertaking tailored media training on how to manage high-profile releases.

“While we acknowledge that, in this instance, the protocols applied by CSNSW staff were not well suited to engagement with the media, CSNSW has reviewed the actions of all correctional staff involved and have not found any evidence of misconduct,” the spokesperson said.

“Corrective Services staff are trained to prioritise community safety and to keep themselves and inmates safe while performing their duties.”

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