Phoebe Burgess triple-0 call on Sam Burgess played in court

Phoebe Burgess told a court she leaked documents to the media against former husband Sam Burgess because she was sick of the NRL culture.

Phoebe Burgess went to the media with allegations her ex, former Souths star Sam Burgess, had abused her family to bring down the “toxic cover-up system” of the NRL after initially begging police not to reveal her complaints, a court has heard.

Her father has told the same court he’d never known fear like the moment Burgess allegedly stood over him and threatened “I’m going to get you”.

But the Burgess’ lawyers say his former father in law was actually the one dealing out threats against the league giant.

Ex-wife Phoebe Burgess leaves court via the back door. Picture John Grainger

Ms Burgess appeared before Moss Vale Local Court on Monday after her former husband pleaded not guilty to intimidation and a backup assault charge stemming from allegations made by her father, Mitchell Hooke.

Ms Burgess recounted what happened on the afternoon of 19 October 2019 when Burgess came to visit family at her father’s home outside Bowral.

The court heard Burgess texted the mother of his children just before midday saying he was in Bowral two hours early and wanted to bring the visit forward.

She told the court she declined and told Burgess to come at 2pm as originally planned.

CCTV from the Royal Hotel in Bowral captures Burgess sinking beers and posing for photographs with fans until about 1:30pm that afternoon.

Former NRL star Sam Burgess and his mum Julie Burgess leaving Moss Vale Local Court. Picture: Jonathan Ng

Ms Burgess told the court she left the home early so she wouldn’t cross paths with her ex.

Toward the end of Burgess’ visit, she said, he texted her saying he wouldn’t leave and was going to wait for her.

Ms Burgess said she parked on the roadside near the house at about 4pm so she could wait for her former husband to drive past and she could return to the home.

But as she waited, Ms Burgess told the court, her distressed father called her saying Burgess had finally left.

“(Mr Hooke) was emotional, shaky he wasn’t making a lot of sense,” Ms Burgess told the court.

“He said ‘it’s okay (Burgess) is gone, he had wild eyes, I’m okay but he came at me, I’m okay’.

Father of Phoebe Burgess, Mitchell Hooke leaving Moss Vale Local Court. Picture: Jonathan Ng

Ms Burgess said she drove home, staying on the phone to her father, and rushed through the front door.

She said she saw her sister, Harriett, who was white and shaken. Ms Burgess said her sister said Burgess “went off”.

Ms Burgess said she then saw her father who, she claimed, looked like he was having an anxiety attack and they spoke privately in the home office.

Mr Hooke told the court his memory of that October afternoon.

He said he had come out of the home office to tell Burgess it was time to leave.

Mr Hooke said he saw Burgess watching league in the lounge room.

When he told Burgess to leave, Mr Hooke told the court, the football star rose to his feet and began cursing,

“He came straight over and was right in my face with his finger up and he said ‘f*** you I’m going to get you, you orchestrated all this, you set this up’,” Mr Hooke said.

Phoebe Burgess has told a court her former NRL star husband Sam threatened her father.

Mr Hooke said he felt “absolute terror” as the 6”5 Burgess stood 20cm from his face full of “rage” and “hate”.

“The look – I’ve not seen it before – he was wild,” Mr Hooke said.

Mr Hooke said he didn’t back up, thinking Burgess would consider it a sign of fear, but he was scared of getting physically hit.

“I was resigned to getting hit. I had absolutely no doubt with his sheer aggressiveness,” Mr Hooke told the court.

“(Burgess’) eyes were wild, they were crazy eyes, his face was red, he was yelling.”

“I’ll never forget the fear, never. It’s like something I’ve never known.”

Mr Hooke said he told his daughter what had happened when she returned home.

The court heard that’s when Ms Burgess called the police.

Phoebe Burgess’ mum Sarah Hooke and her sister leaving Moss Vale Local Court. Picture: Jonathan Ng

Mr Burgess’ high profile barrister, Phillip Boulten SC, held up a copy of The Australian printed last month that revealed extensive details of the allegations made against Burgess.

He asked Ms Burgess if she gave the documents to the journalists who put the story together.

“Yes,” she said,

“Over time.”

The court heard Ms Burgess used to work with Sharri Markson, the investigative journalist who worked on the article.

Mr Boulten put to Ms Burgess she handed over the documents to “destroy” her former husband‘s reputation.

She disagreed.

“The Australian publication approached me and asked about certain rumours … instead of covering up which I believe is toxic in the NRL I decided to hand over a document,” she said.

Ms Burgess said she felt the cover-up ”system” of the NRL had failed her and her former husband.

Ms Burgess broke down on the stand saying she had never called police before and felt it was “the ultimate betrayal”.

That appeared consistent with Ms Burgess’ emotional call to triple-0 after her former husband left the home which was played in court on Monday.

Ms Burgess, in the call, tells the operator she didn’t need police sent to the home but she needed to make a report.

“It’s Sam Burgess so it can’t be made public but I just need to report it cause he’s still in the area and he’s really angry,” she told the emergency dispatcher, breaking down in tears.

“He’s done this to me too,” Ms Burgess says in the call.

Phoebe Burgess has told a court she was not trying to destroy the reputation of former husband Sam Burgess. Picture: Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images

But Mr Boulten, while cross-examining Ms Burgess’ father, said Mr Hooke was actually the one levelling threats against the NRL star.

“I suggest you got very angry with him because he was disrespecting you,” he said to Mr Hooke, calling his version of events “fiction”.

“No… (I said) ‘we welcomed you into our family like a son and this is what you’re doing?’.”

Mr Boulten said Mr Hooke said he’d ruin Burgess’ career if it was the last thing he did.

“I did not,” Mr Hooke told the court.