Defence whistleblower plans to appeal sentence for leaking secret military documents

David McBride stole secret defence documents, and leaked more than 200 of the files to journalists. He has been sentenced to spend at least two years behind bars.

On Tuesday, he pumped his fist in the air while being escorted from the ACT Supreme Court, before disappearing on his way to the cells.

Earlier, the 60-year-old had sat with his eyes closed, momentarily leaning down to stroke his therapy dog, while his sentence was being handed down.

The whistleblower previously pleaded guilty to three charges relating to the theft and disclosure to journalists of classified documents, which detailed alleged misconduct by Australian troops in Afghanistan.

A later inquiry uncovered credible information of 23 incidents of potential war crimes, which involved the killing of 39 Afghans and cruel treatment of two more between 2005 and 2016.

The report found 25 soldiers were perpetrators or accessories - some on a single occasion and some on multiple.

However, McBride had leaked the documents to expose what he viewed as the "overzealous" investigation into the conduct of special forces soldiers in Afghanistan.

This decision would set in motion protracted court proceedings dating back to McBride's arrest in 2018.

On Tuesday, Justice David Mossop sentenced McBride to five-years-and-eight-months jail with a non-parole period of 24 months.

McBride's lawyers have indicated they plan on launching an appeal of the sentence.

Upon hearing the sentence, supporters in the public gallery exclaimed "no" with one person calling the judge a "bastard" and a "puppet".

When the judge first sat on the bench a person had yelled: "Shame on the court, shame on the Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus this should not be happening."

Justice Mossop replied: "Please sit down and be quiet."

Over the next two-and-a-half hours, the judge detailed McBride's crimes which included stealing 235 classified documents - 207 of these being secret - copying them, and storing the paperwork in tubs in the loungeroom of his home.

McBride then shared the documents with three journalists, including the ABC's Dan Oakes who in 2017 published The Afghan Files.

On Tuesday, Justice Mossop said the removal of the documents and their subsequent movements "gave rise to the potential of an unauthorised person gaining access to them".

"[This] would disadvantage Australian Defence Force operations and more broadly would be to the detriment of Australia's national securities and interests.

"May of exposed [military] personnel to an increased risk of attack and harassment and may of exposed them [to Australia's adversaries]."

Before leaking the files, McBride had lodged an internal complaint with the defence force in 2014.

He claimed the investigation of soldiers in relation to a number of civilian deaths, including that of sleeping child, was illegal and a public relations exercise.

"I believe the overzealous investigation of special forces in 2013 were driven by appearances rather than suspicion of a crime," McBride said in his submission.

There was no evidence before the court to support these allegations.

McBride had also published some files and military information on his website called The Ops Room.

On Tuesday, Justice Mossop found that over time McBride became "obsessed with the correctness of his own opinions ... and this misguided self-belief that led him to disregard [the law]".

The judge said McBride had no contrition and displayed an "apparently unwavering belief in his own correctness".

Justice Mossop found that time behind bars was the only option which reflected the level of harm, the need for general deterrence and adequate punishment.

He acknowledged that jail would be more onerous for McBride due to the offender's mental health diagnoses, primarily Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

McBride's lawyers had previously argued that McBride was acting in the public interest and was "honourable" in his intentions.

McBride will be eligible for release in August 2026.