Sam Burgess conviction overturned on appeal
Former South Sydney NRL captain Sam Burgess’s conviction for intimidating his father-in-law has been quashed after a judge said there was reasonable doubt the offence occurred.
A magistrate in February found the 32-year-old Burgess had yelled āf*** you, Iām going to get youā 20 centimetres from Mitchell Hookeās face during an expletive-riddled rage, sparked when Burgess was asked to leave the Hookesā Southern Highlands property in October 2019.
Goulburn District Court Judge Mark Williams today upheld Burgessās appeal, saying the former footballerās version of events was āat least, reasonably possibleā.
He found āof little relevanceā the evidence of the only third-party witness, Mr Hookeās daughter and Burgessās sister-in-law Harriet, who had come upon the men arguing after the alleged threats were made.
āThis was a case of the word of Burgess against the word of Hooke,ā he said.
Judge Williams said the onus remained on the Crown at all times to prove beyond reasonable doubt that an offence occurred.
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An accused person ādoes not have to prove that his version is trueā but if the court thinks it āmightā be true, he must be acquitted, the judge said.
āThe Crown has not eliminated the reasonable possibility that the reasons given by Burgess are true,ā the judge said.
While accepting the argument occurred, Burgess denied swearing in the home and cast the father of his estranged wife Phoebe Burgess as the aggressor.
The incident was sparked after Hooke told Burgess to leave the home when a two-hour agreed visit came to an end, with each man accusing the other of inflaming the situation and continuing it onto the driveway.
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As Burgess was driving out of the driveway, he stopped to take photographs of Hooke and other people outside the house he said showed why heād been loath to leave.
The Moss Vale magistrate instead proposed Burgess had become conscious of his offending conduct and snapped pictures to āarmā himself with material to defend himself.
There is no basis for that proposition in the evidence in my view, and the reason Burgess gives for the photographs appears to be a credible one,ā Williams said.
Hooke in October testified his own calm words were rebutted with āf*** you, Iām going to get you, you orchestrated all of thisā.
āSix foot five, 118 kilograms, threatening to hit me, I was terrified,ā the now-65-year-old told the court.
āI had never felt fear like it. My whole body went cold.ā
Burgess retired in 2019 after a 270-game NRL and English Super League career and stints with Englandās national rugby union and rugby league sides.
He stood down from roles as a commentator and South Sydney assistant coach in October.
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