NRL star Sam Burgess guilty of intimidating former father-in-law Mitch Hooke
Retired NRL star Sam Burgess has been found guilty of intimidating his former father-in-law during a heated argument.
NRL star Sam Burgess has been found guilty of intimidating his former father-in-law during a heated argument in the NSW Southern Highlands.
Burgess, 32, was sentenced to a two-year community corrections order after the guilty decision was handed down on Friday at Moss Vale Local Court over the verbal clash with Mitch Hooke at his sprawling Glenquarry property on October 19, 2019.
The South Sydney legend had pleaded not guilty to intimidation and a back-up count of common assault.
The assault charge was dismissed.
Magistrate Robert Rabbidge also upheld an apprehended violence order preventing Burgess from going within 1km of Mr Hooke’s house.
Burgess spoke briefly outside of court after being found guilty saying an appeal had been lodged.
“(I’m) confused with the decision, we’ve appealed the decision,” he said.
“I’m not going to say anything further. Thank you.”
In convicting Burgess, Magistrate Rabbidge said the retired forward was someone “well thought of” in the community.
But he said it was clear the threats made to Mr Hooke were born of a “highly charged emotional state”.
He said Burgess was a “physically formidable person, far taller, bulkier and fitter and half the age of his father-in-law”.
“An enraged Sam Burgess would be a frightening figure for any Australian,” Magistrate Rabbidge said.
“I’ve found you guilty and I note you were going through a lot of agony and it wasn’t easy for you.
“This was a terrifying experience for Phoebe Burgess, and of course her dad in particular.
“I must record a conviction.”
He accepted the evidence of Ms Burgess and Mr Hooke as believable, but described Burgess’s testimony as “changeable”.
After the guilty decision, Burgess’s lawyer Bryan Wrench was heard in court saying: “He hasn’t done this … he’s suffered a significant impact as a consequence of this”.
During two days of hearings held in November and January, Burgess conceded he had been involved in a fiery confrontation with Mr Hooke and called him a “piece of s..t”, but claimed the businessman was the aggressor and threatened to “ruin” his career.
Mr Hooke, the former chief executive of the Minerals Council of Australia, had claimed in court that Burgess was “wild” and “crazy” and he believed the football star was about to hit him.
The confrontation came amid a messy marriage breakdown between Burgess and ex Phoebe.
Burgess arrived at court to learn his fate on Friday flanked as always by his mother Julie and lawyer Mr Wrench.
During the court hearings, Burgess, Ms Burgess and Mr Hooke all gave evidence before the court.
In November Mr Hooke told the court Burgess unleashed a verbal tirade on him, saying: “F..k you, you’re a piece of s..t, you’re just like your daughter, you’re a piece of s..t”.
Mr Hooke, 64, said he was “terrified” as the red-faced, hulking footy star towered over him.
“I was resigned to getting hit, I had absolutely no doubt,” Mr Hooke told the court.
The court was played a Triple-0 call made by Ms Burgess on the day of the incident in which she could be heard saying: “Look I’m just a bit shaken up … my husband and I are going through a bit of a separation at the moment … He has threatened and abused my father.”
Burgess, however, giving evidence in December said he had been “calm but angry” during the argument and claimed it was Mr Hooke who had followed him out of the house and abused him.
“He said: ‘You could have had all this’, and I said: ‘All of what? I don’t want that. It’s all fake’,” Burgess told the court.
“He said: ‘F..k you Sam’. I returned the serve. I said: ‘F..k you Mitch, you’re a piece of s..t’.”
He claimed Mr Hooke then threatened to ruin his career “if it’s the last thing I do”.
Texts messages between Burgess and Ms Burgess tendered in court revealed a furious exchange in the wake of the incident.
“You’re an absolute low life. How dare you,” she wrote. “We are done – at least two people have now seen who you really are you f..k.”
Burgess replied: “You guys are all the same. Your dad does exactly what you do. None stop, following me around provoking me. It was exactly like you.”
His barrister Phillip Boulten, SC, claimed the allegations formed part of a concerted campaign to rubbish Mr Burgess’s reputation.
“Mitch Hooke and Phoebe Burgess have tried to destroy my client’s career,” he said.
“This case is part of it. And it‘s not going to stop here.”
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