Stuart MacGill breaks silence over alleged kidnapping

Stuart MacGill has told how he considered fighting back when allegedly kidnapped on Sydney’s lower north shore but believes he would have been killed if he did.

Former Australian Test cricketer Stuart MacGill says he is haunted up to 20 hours a day by memories of his kidnapping and feared he could have died during the ordeal.

MacGill, 50, considered fighting back against his alleged kidnappers but believes if he had, he would have been killed.

The spin bowling great broke his silence over the April 14 ordeal on Nine’s A Current Affair on Monday night, saying he didn’t care if his reputation has been tarnished by the incident.

MacGill was allegedly grabbed and stuffed into a van at Cremorne, on Sydney’s lower north shore, taken to a derelict farmhouse, stripped naked and threatened with a gun, before being released.

“I’ve thought about it probably 20 hours a day since,” MacGill said.

Stuart MacGill MacGill, 50, broke his silence over the April 14 ordeal on A Current Affair on Monday night. Picture: Nine

“I was in a situation that’s foreign to me and I was physically and mentally intimidated.

“I’ve thought maybe I could’ve done something different but then I probably wouldn’t be sitting here talking to you.”

Police allege MacGill had unwittingly found himself at the centre of a $2 million drug deal between two groups.

When the deal fell through MacGill became a target for extortion and was allegedly kidnapped. Four men have been charged over the alleged kidnapping.

MacGill will not be charged over the incident and it is not suggested he was involved in the alleged drug deal.

However, when asked about the toll the incident has taken on his reputation, the man who spent most of his cricketing career in the shadow of Shane Warne said simply: “I don’t really care”.

MacGill said the incident had taken a massive toll on both him and his partner Maria O'Meagher who owned Aristotle's Greek restaurant at Neutral Bay where he worked.

MacGill was allegedly kidnapped at gunpoint from a street in Cremorne on April 14, driven to a rundown farmhouse in Bringelly and after an hour brought back into the city and dumped. Picture: Nine

“To be honest, I mean I know that I’ve done nothing wrong,” MacGill said.

“I’ll be very, very clear about this OK, in Australia we operate under laws, a set of laws. The police have said repeatedly what they believe the situation is, and I’d suggest you pay very, very careful attention to that.”

Court documents have revealed that at the centre of the alleged drug deal was an elusive dealer known as “Sonny” who MacGill had met through working at Aristotle’s restaurant in Neutral Bay which his girlfriend Maria O’Meagher owned.

When asked about “Sonny” during the interview, MacGill became testy and refused to be drawn on their relationship.

Stuart MacGill leaving his home at Cremorne. Adam Yip/ Daily Telegraph

“He’s somebody we met through the restaurant and that’s all I’m pretty much prepared to say about it,” he said.

Aristotle’s has since shut down.

MacGill said the restaurant closure had come as a result of a toll of the alleged kidnapping, but it was not the only thing he and Ms O’Meagher had lost as a result of the incident.

“We’ve lost friends, we’ve lost family,” he said.

“I don’t know when I’m going to be able to work again, certainly not until this is all done with.

“And I think the weight of this on my shoulders and Maria’s shoulders, you know, it can’t be underestimated.”