Roberts-Smith denies punching woman

Ben Roberts-Smith has told his defamation trial he never punched a woman in a Canberra hotel room or took pictures of her naked while she was asleep, labelling the claims a "complete fabrication".

Mr Roberts-Smith, 42, has been in the witness box for an 11th day at the high-profile Federal Court trial where he's suing three newspapers over claims of war crimes, murder and bullying in Afghanistan.

He is also suing over a claim that he assaulted a woman at a Canberra hotel room.

Mr Roberts-Smith denies all the claims against him, while the outlets maintain they are true.

On Friday, the war hero denied assertions from the media outlets' lawyer, Nicholas Owens SC, that he assaulted the woman, codenamed as Person 17, in the hotel room after an event at Parliament House on March 28, 2018.

Mr Owens submitted that Mr Roberts-Smith was jealous of the woman talking to other men, including a vice-admiral, at the event and was also embarrassed by her behaviour due to her being "visibly intoxicated".

He put to the SAS veteran that later, back at their hotel room, he shook Person 17 and accused her of being "all over" men at the dinner.

The barrister alleged in court that Mr Roberts-Smith then punched the woman in the temple causing her to stagger back and fall onto the bed.

"I've never struck any woman and I certainly didn't strike Person 17," he responded.

"This a complete fabrication."

He denied that Person 17 only became unconscious after the alleged punch, saying she "could hardly walk" and had fallen asleep.

He also denied the barrister's claim he took photos of Person 17's naked body while she was asleep, or later showed her the photos with the purpose of having a "hold over her".

"No and that's disgusting," Mr Roberts-Smith said.

He also denied having sex with the woman on the same night.

"We didn't speak and we certainly didn't have sex," he said.

The former SAS operator conceded looking through the woman's handbag and a notebook, but denied that amounted to a "gross invasion" of her privacy.

The court heard that what was written in the Person 17's notebook was "very strange" and constituted a "road map" to stop her breaking up with Mr Roberts-Smith.

"It was all written about me," he said.

He also denied not taking Person 17 to hospital on the night out of fear she would reveal the alleged assault to ambulance paramedics or hospital workers.

The trial has previously heard that immediately after the event, on Mr Roberts-Smith's version, Person 17 was found in the care of Australian Federal Police officers after falling down stairs drunk.

Also on Friday, Mr Roberts-Smith was quizzed over an allegedly threatening message sent to Person 17 via the encrypted app Telegram earlier in March 2018.

He denied that the message "don't f***ing abuse me again because it won't end well" constituted a threat.

"It's definitely not a threat," he said, arguing it had been taken out of context.

Mr Roberts-Smith was also questioned over a February 2018 meeting with Person 17, after a pregnancy claim, during which he showed the woman video taken by a private investigator.

He rejected claims that at the meeting he made Person 17 take a pregnancy test or tried to intimidate her, telling the court "she was trying to manipulate me".

"I just wanted to know what the truth was," he told the court.

"I was warranted, she did lie to me."

His legal team has previously argued that he is the victim of a lying campaign by bitter people and failed soldiers jealous of his stellar military career.

Earlier on Friday, Mr Owens told the court the trial has been thrown into "chaos" by state border restrictions and Sydney's "rapidly evolving" COVID-19 situation.

It heard that four witnesses the respondents' planned to call next week cannot now attend due to recently enacted border changes in Western Australia, Queensland and Victoria.

The trial continues.