It would end when Person 17, smashed, drove to Roberts-Smith’s marital home and confessed everything to his wife Emma. Person 17 took that action, she said, because otherwise she felt, “I would never be free of him.”
On Person 17’s recollection, Roberts-Smith told her on their last night together that she was “like crack” and “really hard to give up,” but if they stayed on “the same page,” she had nothing to worry about. But he reportedly warned, “If you … turn on me, I’ll burn down your house, and it might not be you who’s hurt, but people you love.”
Roberts-Smith has vehemently denied having beaten or threatened the woman; last year, he told the court he abhorred domestic violence. He claims that all the injuries she sustained on the night of the Canberra ceremony were due to her falling down the stairs.
He has also insisted that his affair with person 17 only took place during a period of separation from his then wife Emma – a claim that his now estranged wife told the court last month was false. More of this sad tale will unfold in court on Wednesday.
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