Former Test cricketer Stuart MacGill shed tears of joy with six or seven bourbon and cokes in an hour-and-a-half before allegedly intimidating one of his best friend’s former partners.
MacGill, 51, is accused of stalking and verbally intimidating his friend’s former fiancé Samantha Ford while walking down a Sydney CBD street, and then at a nearby pub on February 1, 2022.
He spent that morning worrying one of his best friends Stephen Kerlin was suicidal, having been unable to contact him, MacGill told Downing Centre Local Court on Tuesday.
MacGill was worried for Kerlin’s mental health following the end of his relationship with Ford some months earlier, he said.
He then rang others, who had also been unable to contact Kerlin, so he went to his Barangaroo apartment.
“I rang on the doorbell and he came to the door in his pyjamas and I started crying,” MacGill said.
They then celebrated, with MacGill drinking “six or seven” bourbon and cokes at the apartment before the pair decided to kick on to Kerlin’s preferred local, the Captain Cook Hotel.
As they walked, Kerlin spotted Ford across the road, pointing her out to MacGill and yelling towards her.
“‘F— off, leave us alone you b—-‘, that sort of stuff,” MacGill said.
Ford then began approaching and MacGill told her to go away, he said.
“My intention was to go to the Captain Cook, so I was pretty keen on just ploughing on,” he said.
Minutes later, a bartender at the hotel was telling Kerlin and Ford to leave following a loud argument MacGill said he was only “on the periphery” of.
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Ford told the court yesterday she went to the Captain Cook Hotel to tell staff not to serve Kerlin and MacGill more alcohol.
“(MacGill) came up first, and said something like ‘f— off you c—‘, then he said he was going to call the police, and he said ‘you’re going down, you’re not welcome here’,” Ford said.
Ford told the court MacGill was standing over the top of her as he yelled abuse.
He denied trying to intimidate Ford.
He wanted her to leave the pair alone, but did not swear at her, MacGill said, but agreed he did tell Ford he was calling police.
“They’d broken up and have family law issues which have nothing to do with me, but I knew … we needed to move out of that situation,” MacGill said.
MacGill rang a police officer he had unrelated interactions with, but did not call triple zero, despite being advised to.
During cross-examination from prosecutor Sergeant Michael Cleaver, MacGill acknowledged he had not told police everything when he gave a recorded interview after the incident, but denied lying to protect his friend, describing some mistakes in his evidence as a poor choice of words.
“I’m a sportsman, not a wordsmith,” MacGill told the court.
Readers seeking support and information about suicide prevention can contact Lifeline on 13 11 14.
National Domestic Violence Service: 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732).
If you are in immediate danger call Triple Zero (000).
