Former Australian cricket star Stuart MacGill was drunk when he allegedly screamed obscenities at his best friend’s ex fiancee before he intimidated her at a pub, a court has been told.
The 51-year-old appeared in Sydney Downing Centre Local Court on Monday to continue to fight the charges of intimidation and using offensive language in a public place.
Police allege the legendary spin bowler and his friend Stephen Kerlin, 54, verbally abused Samantha Lorraine Ford on Kent St in Sydney.
The two men are accused of approaching the woman, who is Mr Kerlin’s former partner, on a corner near the Lord Nelson pub around 6pm on February 1.
More than a year after the alleged intimidation, Ms Ford appeared in court and claimed the two men screamed swear words at her as they approached her.
The court was told she had been returning to her home on Argyle St with a parcel in one hand and a poodle in the other when she heard “loud shouting” from a nearby street.
“The first screams were loud so I looked up immediately and I recognised the two people,” Ms Ford said.
She identified her former partner Mr Kerlin and his best friend Mr MacGill, whom she’d met before, as her verbal assailants.
The pub owner said the pair were staring directly at her as Mr MacGill shouted that she was a “c***y c**t” and an “a**ehole” and told her she was “going down”.
The men allegedly approached Ms Ford until they were only 15m away and continued their verbal tirade.
“I was shocked, I stepped back a couple of paces,” she said.
“(I felt) very very threatened and very scared.”
Ms Ford told the court that Mr MacGill had been the instigator of the verbal attack but Mr Kerlin had joined in. She judged the pair to be “highly intoxicated” but said “Stuart was in charge”.
“Stuart appeared … his voice was very loud, the volume was loud. He seemed very angry. It was intense,” she said.
“His face was red, his pupils were … scary, they were wild.”
After allegedly unloading the stream of insults on the pub owner, the court was told the men walked away towards the Captain Cook Hotel.
Ms Ford told the court that she followed them to the licensed premises to ask the pub staff not to serve alcohol to Mr MacGill or Mr Kerlin in the interest of her safety.
In a statement to police just a day after the incident, she explained she followed the pair because she wanted to tell Mr MacGill and Mr Kerlin not to threaten or abuse her anymore.
“I didn’t want the events of the evening to escalate more, for them to go and drink more, considering my residence is 10m from the hotel,” she said.
However, she claimed her entrance to the pub was blocked by the former Test cricketer standing in the doorway.
“B****, you’re not welcome here,” he allegedly said to Ms Ford.
The court was told he was within arm’s reach when he leaned over her and allegedly intimidated her.
“Stuart came up and said something like ‘f**k off’ and ‘f**k off you c**t’ and he said he was going to call the police,” Ms Ford explained.
“He said ‘you c**t, you’re going down, you’re not welcome here’.”
Ms Ford said the former spin bowler was “threatening” and appeared “extremely angry”.
“I felt scared, very scared, intimidated, threatened,” she said.
The court was told she subsequently backed down the stairs of the hotel, still clutching her parcel and poodle.
The pub owner rejected suggestions from defence lawyer Joseph Correy that she had “embellished” Mr MacGill’s role in the altercation.
She similarly denied that Mr Kerlin was the main agitator of the dispute in the pub, which Mr Correy claimed was evident in the CCTV footage.
The bartender at the Captain Cook Hotel, Ashley Bokser, told the court that Mr Kerlin had approached Ms Ford after she “announced her presence” on entering the pub.
“He had walked up to her and he was arguing and frustrated,” she recounted.
Ms Bokser said Mr MacGill “walked up sort of behind” his friend and was “repeating some of the things (Mr Kerlin) was saying”.
She told the court the former test cricketer was “slightly aggressive” towards Ms Ford.
The bartender characterised Mr MacGill as “intoxicated”, “slurring his words”, and “a bit teary-eyed” at the time.
She intervened in between Mr Kerlin and Ms Ford to defuse the loud argument, and asked them both to leave the premises.
When giving evidence, Ms Ford said she didn’t remember being asked to leave.
Mr Kerlin pleaded guilty to intimidation and contravening an apprehended violence order last year.
The hearing will continue before magistrate Christine Haskett on Tuesday.