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| otherparty =
| criminal_charges = [[Theft]] and [[Classified information|Sharing Classified Documents With Press]]
| criminal_penalty = 5 years 8 months
| criminal_status = Incarcerated in [[Alexander Maconochie Centre]], Canberra
| spouse = {{marriage |Sarah Green|<!--unknown-->|2016|end=<!--unknown-->}}
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'''David William McBride''' (born 15 December 1963)<ref name="McBride">{{cite book |last=McBride |first=David |author-link=David McBride (whistleblower) |date=Nov 2023 |title=The Nature of Honour |publisher=[[Viking Press]] |pages=30, 206 |isbn=9781760897994}}</ref>
In 2018, McBride was charged with several offences related to unlawfully disclosing Commonwealth documents. In 2023, he pleaded guilty to the charges.
==Early life==
McBride was born in 1963 to [[William McBride (doctor)|William McBride]], an obstetrician in Sydney, and Patricia McBride (née Glover), also a doctor.<ref name="Knaus">{{cite news |last=Knaus |first=Christopher |title=Whistleblower charged with exposing alleged military misconduct 'not afraid to go to jail' |url=https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/mar/07/whistleblower-charged-with-exposing-alleged-military-misconduct-not-afraid-to-go-to-jail |work=[[The Guardian]] |date=7 March 2019}}</ref><ref name="Wroe">{{
He graduated in law at the [[Sydney University]] and then obtained a scholarship to take a second degree in the same subject at [[Oxford University]].<ref name="Wroe" />
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==Leak of military documents==
In 2016, McBride leaked classified military documents to the [[Australian Broadcasting Corporation]] (ABC).<ref name="Wroe"/> McBride had previously raised concerns within the [[Australian Defence Force]] about the dangers of increasingly restrictive [[rules of engagement]] and the nature of investigations into members of the special forces.<ref name="Wroe"/><ref name="Masters">{{cite book |last=Masters |first=Chris |author-link=Chris Masters (writer) |date=2023 |title=Flawed Hero|publisher=Allen & Unwin |page= 107|isbn=1761069810 |quote=''Yet McBride was not happy with the way the ABC had used the material he had provided. His primary concern was not for the Afghan people but for Australia’s special forces soldiers, whom he saw as being dangerously restricted by the rules of engagement and punitive oversight. He agitated for the operators to have more freedom of action. He criticised Defence leadership for increasing the risk to their soldiers for the political dividend of avoiding civilian casualties.''}}</ref> The ABC found evidence of war crimes and published the information in their 2017 publication [[Afghan Files (Australia)|''The Afghan Files'']].<ref name="Guardian1">{{Cite news |date=19 November 2020 |title=We knew the war crimes inquiry would be bad – but this is gut-wrenching and nauseating |first1=Katharine |last1=Murphy |url=http://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/nov/19/we-knew-the-war-crimes-inquiry-would-be-bad-but-this-is-gut-wrenching-and-nauseating |access-date= 19 November 2020 |work=The Guardian}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last1=Visontay|first1=Elias|last2=Knaus|first2=Christopher|date=6 November 2020 |title=Inquiry into alleged war crimes by Australian special forces in Afghanistan delivers final report |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/nov/07/inquiry-into-alleged-war-crimes-by-australian-special-forces-in-afghanistan-delivers-final-report|access-date=19 November 2020 |issn=0261-3077}}</ref> McBride was allegedly unhappy with ABC's reporting of his documents.<ref name="Masters"
▲The ABC found evidence of war crimes and published the information in their 2017 publication [[Afghan Files (Australia)|''The Afghan Files'']].<ref name="Guardian1">{{Cite news |date=19 November 2020 |title=We knew the war crimes inquiry would be bad – but this is gut-wrenching and nauseating |first1=Katharine |last1=Murphy |url=http://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/nov/19/we-knew-the-war-crimes-inquiry-would-be-bad-but-this-is-gut-wrenching-and-nauseating |access-date= 19 November 2020 |work=The Guardian}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last1=Visontay|first1=Elias|last2=Knaus|first2=Christopher|date=6 November 2020 |title=Inquiry into alleged war crimes by Australian special forces in Afghanistan delivers final report |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/nov/07/inquiry-into-alleged-war-crimes-by-australian-special-forces-in-afghanistan-delivers-final-report|access-date=19 November 2020 |issn=0261-3077}}</ref> McBride was allegedly unhappy with ABC's reporting of his documents.<ref name="Masters" /><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/6457267/judges-warning-for-defence-whistleblower/?cs=14231 |title=Judge's warning for defence whistleblower |last=O'Mallon |first=Finbar |date=Oct 2019 |website=[[The Canberra Times]]|quote=''"According to the documents, McBride was unhappy with the angle Mr Oakes had pursued, believing it wasn't consistent with the complaints he made, and the two stopped talking before the story was published."''}}</ref>
In September 2018, McBride was arrested at Sydney Airport<ref name="Masters" /> and charged with the theft of Commonwealth property contrary to s 131(1) of the [[Criminal Code Act 1995]]; in March 2019 he was charged with a further four offences: three of breaching s 73A(1) of the [[Defence Act 1903]]; and another of "unlawfully disclosing a Commonwealth document contrary to s 70(1) of the [[Crimes Act 1914]]".<ref name="ABCALumni">{{Cite web |title=ABC Alumni Limited Submission to Senate Standing committee On Environment and Communications' References Committee: Inquiry into the adequacy of Commonwealth laws and frameworks covering the disclosure and reporting of sensitive and classified information |url=https://www.aph.gov.au/DocumentStore.ashx?id=23ecd67e-51eb-4e93-b055-83086647c857&subId=669151 |date=29 August 2019 |access-date=19 November 2020}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=2019-06-13|title=Afghan Files whistleblower David McBride's trial delayed to protect state secrets|url= http://www.theguardian.com/law/2019/jun/13/afghan-files-whistleblower-david-mcbrides-trial-delayed-to-protect-state-secrets|access-date=10 November 2020 |work=The Guardian}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Burgess |first=Katie |date=9 November 2020 |title=Afghanistan inquiry: Calls to drop prosecution of whistleblower David McBride|url=https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/7019615/afghanistan-inquiry-calls-to-drop-prosecution-of-whistleblower-david-mcbride/|access-date=19 November 2020 |work=[[The Canberra Times]] }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Burgess|first=Katie|date=19 November 2020 |title=The Afghanistan inquiry: what we know so far|url=https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/7017713/the-afghanistan-inquiry-what-we-know-so-far/|access-date=19 November 2020 |work=The Canberra Times}}</ref><ref name="Knaus"/> McBride pleaded not guilty to each of the charges at a 30 May 2019 preliminary hearing.<ref name="ABCALumni" /><ref name="Maiden">{{cite news |last1=Maiden |first1=Samantha |title=Whistleblower behind ABC raid stands by Afghan leaks |url=https://thenewdaily.com.au/news/national/2019/06/05/abc-raid-david-mcbride/ |access-date=19 November 2020 |work=The New Daily |date=5 June 2019}}</ref> His legal team
In October 2022, it was reported that the case against McBride would proceed to trial. McBride and his lawyers had tried to get the prosecution dropped by applying for protection under Australia's whistleblower laws. This application relied on expert testimony of two witnesses. However, the [[Australian Government]] moved to prevent his testimony from being heard on national security grounds. Consequently McBride and his team dropped the application to stop the trial saying "there was little prospect of success without their evidence".<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/law/2022/oct/27/david-mcbride-afghanistan-alleged-war-crime-whistleblower|title=David McBride will face prosecution after blowing whistle on alleged war crimes in Afghanistan|work=The Guardian|date=27 October 2022}}</ref>
During the case, McBride's lawyers stated he acted out of concern about the nature of the Defence Force's “excessive investigation of soldiers” in Afghanistan.<ref>{{Cite news |title=David McBride: former army lawyer sentenced to five years for stealing and leaking Afghanistan war documents |url=https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/article/2024/may/14/david-mcbride-former-army-lawyer-sentenced-to-five-years-for-stealing-and-leaking-afghanistan-war-documents |last=Basford Canales |first=Sarah |date=2024-05-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240612005424/https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/article/2024/may/14/david-mcbride-former-army-lawyer-sentenced-to-five-years-for-stealing-and-leaking-afghanistan-war-documents |archive-date=2024-06-12 |work=[[The Guardian]]|quote=''"His counsel Stephen Odgers argued that McBride came to believe the ADF adopted a policy of “excessive investigation of soldiers” around 2013 to compensate for earlier war crime allegations levelled against Australian special forces soldiers that had been made public. McBride believed those within the “highest levels” of the military had concocted a “PR exercise”, the court heard."''}}</ref><ref name="Post Trial">{{cite web |last=Byrne |first=Elizabeth |date=Nov 2023 |title=David McBride came back to Australia for a father and daughter dance. It set in motion years of legal woes |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-11-19/david-mcbride-pleads-guilty-years-long-legal-fight/103122468 |publisher=ABC}}</ref> McBride believed the investigations were a "PR exercise" to compensate for earlier public allegations of war crimes. Justice [[David Mossop]] stated "the way you've explained it is that the higher-ups might have been acting illegally by investigating these people too much, and that that was the source of the illegality that was being exposed."<ref name=SMH1>{{cite web| url =https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/blindly-obeying-orders-ignores-nuremberg-whistleblower-s-lawyer-20231114-p5ejrs.html| title = Blindly obeying orders 'ignores Nuremberg': Whistleblower's lawyer| last = Thompson| first = Angus| date = Nov 2023| publisher = Sydney Morning Herald}}</ref> The prosecution voiced concerns about military personnel being "able to act by reference to something as nebulous as the public interest".<ref name=SMH1 />
McBride pleaded guilty on 17 November 2023.<ref>{{cite web| url =https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/nov/17/whistleblower-david-mcbride-guilty-plea-evidence-security-risk-act-supreme-court| title = Whistleblower David McBride pleads guilty after court rules to withhold evidence over 'security' risk| last1 = Knaus| first1 = Christopher| last2 = Basford Canales| first2 = Sarah| date = Nov 2023| work = The Guardian}}</ref> The plea came after Justice Mossop ruled that he would instruct the incoming jury that McBride was not bound to act in the public interest under his [[Oath of Allegiance (Australia)#Armed forces|oath of service]]<ref name=byrne>{{cite news| url =https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-11-17/military-whistleblower-david-mcbride-trial-leaked-adf-war-crimes/103119808| title = Military lawyer David McBride pleads guilty to unlawfully sharing secret allegations of Australian war crimes| last1 = Byrne| first1 = Elizabeth| last2 = Mannheim| first2 = Markus| date =17 November 2023| publisher = ABC}}</ref> and the government were allowed to claim [[public-interest immunity]] for documents McBride's defence team sought to use.<ref>{{cite news| url =https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/whistleblower-s-trial-delayed-after-judge-rejects-he-was-duty-bound-to-leak-information-20231115-p5ek5c.html| title = Commonwealth argues against handing more intel to whistleblower as trial delayed| last = Thompson| first = Angus| date = Nov 2023| publisher = ABC}}</ref> No appeal was allowed for either decision, and on 14 May 2024, McBride was sentenced to five years and eight months in prison.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2024-05-14 |title=Former military lawyer David McBride jailed for sharing classified information with journalists |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-05-14/military-whistleblower-david-mcbride-sentenced-classified-info/103843314 |access-date=2024-05-14 |work=ABC News |language=en-AU}}</ref>▼
▲McBride pleaded guilty on 17 November 2023.<ref>{{cite web| url =https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/nov/17/whistleblower-david-mcbride-guilty-plea-evidence-security-risk-act-supreme-court| title = Whistleblower David McBride pleads guilty after court rules to withhold evidence over 'security' risk| last1 = Knaus| first1 = Christopher| last2 = Basford Canales| first2 = Sarah| date = Nov 2023| work = The Guardian}}</ref> The plea came after Justice Mossop ruled that he would instruct the incoming jury that McBride was not bound to act in the public interest under his [[Oath of Allegiance (Australia)#Armed forces|oath of service]].<ref name=byrne>{{cite news| url =https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-11-17/military-whistleblower-david-mcbride-trial-leaked-adf-war-crimes/103119808| title = Military lawyer David McBride pleads guilty to unlawfully sharing secret allegations of Australian war crimes| last1 = Byrne| first1 = Elizabeth| last2 = Mannheim| first2 = Markus| date =17 November 2023| publisher = ABC}}</ref>
==Personal life==
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