Victoria Cross recipient Ben Roberts-Smith’s defamation action against The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, The Canberra Times and three of our journalists has nearly concluded its first week.

This week Roberts-Smith’s barrister has made his opening statement saying corrosive jealousy and lies were behind the war crimes claims levelled at the soldier, while lawyers for the media organisations have said his claims as to how the incidents he is accused of occurred are inherently implausible.

In the background there has been separate action taken by Roberts-Smith against his former wife alleging she accessed confidential emails and made them available to the media organisation’s lawyers.

Legal Affairs reporter Michaela Whitbourn has been covering both trials and she joins Nathanael Cooper on Please Explain to bring us up to speed on what’s happened this week.