632 The applicant denied that he had invented the story of dragging the body of the man with the prosthetic leg back in order to explain why, on his account, the body was in the positon it was.
633 The applicant described the reason a body needs to be cleared quickly. He said that that is done to make sure there is no further threat by way of weapons or "anything out there that you should or don't want to leave out there".
634 When the applicant was asked why he did not move the body of the second insurgent, he said that task was the responsibility of the second SASR operative. He said that he made a decision to drag back the body of the insurgent he engaged in order to clear it.
635 The applicant disagreed with the suggestion put to him by the respondents that it is clear from the photographs of the elderly Afghan male EKIA56 (exhibit R6, p 5), that his body had never been moved and had never been dragged anywhere.
636 The applicant was unable to say whether Person 6's patrol was on the eastern side of the cleared field shown on the aerial photograph of W108 which he had marked (exhibit R4).
637 The Exploitation Management Data Card for the mission to W108 contains the following notation:
Info obtained from FE TSE of KIA56. NE corner W108. In courtyard containing tunnel complex. Photographed on target.
638 The applicant was cross-examined about aspects of the photographs which were taken during the SSE process and which comprise exhibit R18. The photographs of EKIA50 were taken between 8.26 pm and 8.27 pm on 12 April 2009. The photographs of EKIA57 were taken between 8.30 pm and 8.32 pm, and the photographs of EKIA56 were taken between 8.36 pm and 8.37 pm. The photograph of the man with the prosthetic leg, EKIA57, at p 35 of exhibit R18 bears the time of 9.31 pm and the prosthetic leg is still on the body. The applicant denied the suggestion that he did not remove the prosthetic leg. He said that he did remove it. He said that he had a recollection of Person 5 telling him that he should be checking the prosthetic leg.
639 The applicant said in cross-examination that there was no standard operating procedure about immediately making a radio call for help upon the occurrence of an engagement. The applicant gave the following evidence:
I want to put to you that too that you would not have left the area of contact until there was a properly organised presence in the region to provide security, correct?---Which there may well have been. And in fact, given the other individual that I don't remember, it probably was out there, which is why I don't remember it, because I went back inside.
Are you saying that you have a recollection of this second person being out there as the person to provide security in the area?---No, I'm putting forward, as you're putting
