Sam Burgess applies for wife Phoebe to be found in contempt of court
Sam Burgess has asked a court to take action against his wife Phoebe over drug and domestic violence allegations levelled at the former NRL star.
NSW
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Former NRL star Sam Burgess has filed a court application for his estranged wife Phoebe Burgess and father-in-law Mitchell Hooke to be found in contempt of court.
Mr Burgess did not appear at Moss Vale Local Court on Monday as his lawyer Bryan Wrench formally made the application as part of an acrimonious battle between the ex-South Sydney skipper and Ms Burgess.
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Mr Wrench also formally entered a plea of not guilty to a charge that Mr Burgess assaulted Mr Hooke last year.
Mr Wrench last week filed a notice of motion for Ms Burgess and Mr Hooke to be found in contempt of court after Ms Burgess levelled domestic violence and drug allegations against the former dual English international.
At the Moss Vale Local Court on Wednesday, Mr Wrench made an application for the matter to be the subject of a hearing in a fortnight’s time.
However, he was given a swift rebuke by Magistrate Ian Cheetham who said he had failed to meet a seven-day deadline for the notice of motion to be filed and did not produce an affidavit as required.
“There is no affidavit, there’s some form of chronology and no evidence to support the application,” Mr Cheetham said.
The intimidation and assault charges against Mr Burgess were set to go to hearing on November 16.
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Mr Wrench was hoping to expedite the contempt of court hearing so that the intimidation charges could be resolved as soon as possible.
However, Mr Cheetham said that he would require leave to make a proper application and that would in all likelihood delay the hearing into the intimidation allegations against Mr Burgess.
As well, police prosecutor Jamie Palmer told the court that Ms Burgess’s affidavit had nothing to do with the intimidation matter.
Mr Wrench has previously told the court that police had failed to provide Ms Burgess’s statement and he recently subpoenaed the police to obtain a copy.
Ms Palmer opposed Mr Wrench’s subpoena, saying it was not related to the intimidation charges and the matter was the subject of a separate police investigation.
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The matter was stood down on Wednesday morning and will return to court later in the day.
Mr Wrench has previously claimed that Ms Burgess and Mr Hooke were acting out of “malice or retaliation” when they levelled domestic violence and drug allegations against Mr Burgess.
The drug and domestic violence allegations were contained in a 50-page statement handed to police by Ms Burgess and later published in The Australian.
It was alleged Mr Burgess underwent a secret drug test at an underground carpark at Souths Juniors that was allegedly swept under the carpet by the Rabbitohs.
Ms Burgess claimed in her statement to police Mr Burgess tested positive to MDMA and that the test was submitted to a pathologist under a false name.
The former South Sydney premiership winner has denied the allegations and any wrongdoing.
Mr Wrench previously said the allegations were “orchestrated propaganda” and appeared to be “born out of malice or retaliation”.
He said Mr Burgess made an application regarding unrelated matters in another court on September 24, and six days later Ms Burgess filed her affidavit with police.
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Mr Burgess, 31, has previously pleaded not guilty to one charge of intimidating Mr Hooke.
He has also had an apprehended violence order taken out against him after an alleged argument at Mr Hooke’s Southern Highlands property in October 2019.
When going to visit his children, Mr Burgess was asked to leave after tensions escalated, resulting in police being called.
Originally published as Sam Burgess applies for wife Phoebe to be found in contempt of court