Former Scotland rugby captain Stuart Hogg has been sentenced to a community payback order, with one year of supervision, and a five-year non-harassment order at Selkirk Sheriff Court after pleading guilty to a charge of domestic abuse against his estranged wife.
In December, Hogg was handed a five-year non-harassment order and fined £600 after breaching bail. The 32-year-old had been due to stand trial before pleading guilty to a single charge of domestic abuse against his estranged wife, between 2019 and 2024, at locations including Hawick, the Scottish Borders, and Bearsden, near Glasgow.
Hogg, a father of four, admitted sending his partner 200 text messages in a matter of hours following the breakup of their marriage, while he would also use phone apps to track her location. The court also heard that Hogg would return home from regular drinking nights out to behave abusively, shouting and swearing at his ex-wife who would remain upstairs with the couple’s children.
He is said to have told his partner that she was “not being fun” during his tirades, which left Ms. Hogg “wishing for it to be morning as soon as possible”. Hogg – who won 100 caps for his country prior to his retirement last July, and also played twice for the British & Irish Lions – admitted that the messages he sent were alarming and distressing in nature.
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He now plays for French club Montpellier, havign had spells at Glasgow Warriors and Exeter Chiefs. He was Scotland captain for three years before retiring from the international game and now lives abroad.
Hogg is in the process of divorce proceedings. His secret lover, ex-girlfriend Jilly O’Donnell, previously told the Mirror that his boozy lifestyle was to blame for his departure from the Scotland squad
She claimed it was the former captain’s alcohol issues and womanising that saw him thrown off the squad. Ms O’Donnell said: “Stuart called me during a riding weekend in Hawick. He had fallen off his horse and was drinking but he was in good spirits. I was in the gym and kept getting all these calls.
Hogg earned 100 caps for Scotland during his international career
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“In one call he said things were bad. He told me, ‘Something was really bad has happened. I just need some time.’ He never went back to training. He later made it out that he left because he hated it. It was not a planned leave, he didn’t leave over a sudden injury.
“He’d been in a bender, he kept saying people were spreading rumours. It’s my understanding he was thrown out of the team over his drinking and womanising. But they let him save face and say he left because his body couldn’t take it.”
Asked about Hogg’s departure from the Scotland squad, a Scottish Rugby spokesperson said last month: “Stuart Hogg informed us he was retiring with immediate effect in 2023 citing the toll rugby had taken on his body.”
Hogg was awarded an MBE for his services to rugby in the 2024 New Year’s Honours List.