Ben Roberts-Smith’s lawyers have told a Sydney court three key message exchanges show his ex-wife Emma Roberts accessed confidential information in the former soldier’s email account.

The war veteran has launched a separate case against Ms Roberts in the Federal Court, running concurrently to his high-stakes defamation proceedings against three newspapers.

In sworn affidavits, she denies accessing an email account Mr Roberts-Smith used for confidential communication with his defamation lawyers, his employer and correspondence about the Brereton inquiry into alleged war crimes.

But barrister Arthur Moses SC for Mr Roberts-Smith on Friday said there was “clear, albeit circumstantial evidence” Ms Roberts had not been “full and frank in her disclosure”.

Keypoints:

• The court was read WhatsApp messages between Emma Roberts and her close friend Danielle Scott
• Ben Roberts-Smith’s lawyer suggested Ms Roberts was not “full and frank” in her affidavit
• Ms Roberts’ lawyer said she had “appropriately and truthfully” answered all requests of the court

Mr Moses outlined a WhatsApp exchange in June last year where Ms Roberts’ friend Danielle Scott sent her the name and address of a solicitor helping prepare Mr Roberts-Smith’s defamation case.

“Boom, there it is,” Ms Scott wrote.

The WhatsApp record showed “media omitted” in the place where Ms Scott had sent a picture.

Ms Roberts replied: “Holy f***… God I love you”.

Ms Scott then said: “Yeah, we’re not in a relationship” and “it was on 30 March”.

In an affidavit, Mr Roberts-Smith said on March 30 he received an email from the Virgin Velocity rewards store confirming the delivery of earphones he purchased as a gift for his solicitor in return for her efforts.

Mr Moses said it was open to the court to infer Ms Scott had access to the Velocity email.

He said when his team sought the “omitted media” they were informed it was “no longer retained”, despite an image sent seven minutes later in that same WhatsApp conversation being produced.

Mr Moses also pointed to WhatsApp messages between the two women about chapters of a book Mr Roberts-Smith was writing, which had been in the email account, along with a reference Ms Scott made to trying to “log into your account”.

Ms Roberts has insisted the final exchange was a reference to Ms Scott helping her with her MyGov account, not the email.

Jason Murakami, for Ms Roberts, insisted his client had “appropriately and truthfully” answered all requests of the court.

Mr Moses has sought to examine Ms Roberts, on a limited basis, about her disclosures in the case.

Justice Robert Bromwich ordered Ms Roberts to file a further affidavit before the case returns to court later this month.