MacGill denies intimidating, swearing at mate’s ex | Lismore City News

Stuart MacGill admitted he did not tell police everything but denied lying to protect his partner. (Dean Lewins/APE PHOTOS)

Former Test cricketer Stuart MacGill shed tears of joy before downing six or seven bourbon and cokes in an hour-and-a-half and allegedly intimidating one of his best friend’s former partners.

MacGill, 51, is accused of stalking and verbally intimidating his friend’s ex-fiancée Samantha Ford as he walked down a Sydney CBD street, then at a nearby bar on February 1, 2022.

He had worried that morning that “one of my best friends” Stephen Kerlin had committed suicide because he had not been able to contact him, MacGill told Downing Center Local Court on Tuesday.

MacGill was concerned about Kerlin’s mental health following the end of his relationship with Ms Ford a few months earlier, he said.

He went to Kerlin’s Barangaroo apartment after hearing others were unable to contact him.

“I rang the doorbell and he came to the door in his pajamas and I started crying,” MacGill said.

They then celebrated, with MacGill drinking “six or seven” bourbon and cokes at the flat before kicking off to Kerlin’s local of choice, the Captain Cook Hotel.

As they walked, Kerlin spotted Ms Ford, pointed her at MacGill and shouted at her.

“‘F*** off, let us out of your b****,’, that kind of stuff,” MacGill said.

Ms Ford then began to approach and MacGill told her to leave, he said.

“My intention was to go to the Captain Cook, so I was very keen to just plow on,” he said.

Minutes later, a bartender at the hotel called Kerlin and Ms. Ford said to leave after a heated argument that MacGill said he was only “on the periphery”.

Ms Ford told the court on Monday she went to the Captain Cook Hotel to tell staff not to serve the pair any more alcohol.

“(MacGill) came first and said something like ‘f*** off you c***’, then he said he was going to call the police, and he said ‘you’re going down, you’re not welcome here’,” said Ms. Ford said.

Ms Ford said MacGill was above her screaming abuse.

MacGill denied that he tried to intimidate Ms. Ford or swear at her, but agreed that he did in Ms. Ford. Ford’s face showed when he told her he was calling the police.

“They had broken up and had family law issues that had nothing to do with me, but I knew … we had to move out of that situation,” MacGill said.

Captain Cook Hotel local Mark Austin told the court MacGill did not appear threatening while at the hotel but admitted he could not hear the details of the argument.

MacGill called Detective Sergeant Brett Whitmore, a police officer with whom he had unrelated interactions, for advice.

“(MacGill) said words similar to ‘she’s going crazy, what should I do’?” Said Sgt Whitmore.

“I told him I was at home and he should contact triple zero,” he said.

MacGill told the court he did not mention triple zero because he believed the incident was over after Kerlin and Ms Ford left the hotel.

During cross-examination by prosecutor, Sgt. Michael Cleaver, MacGill admitted he did not tell police everything when he was interviewed after the incident, but denied lying to protect his friend and some mistakes in his evidence as poor choice of words describe.

“I’m a sportsman, not a wordsmith,” MacGill told the court.

He remains on bail pending the court’s decision.

Australian Associated Press