Former Australian cricketer Stuart MacGill has opened up on the details of his kidnapping incident and how it has affected his life more than a year after the harrowing ordeal.
Australians and the international cricket community reacted in shock when learning the news in April of 2021 that MacGill had been kidnapped by masked bandits before being beaten and dumped.
The father of two and restauranteur holds emotional scars following the incident that has led to the arrest of four men, including the brother of his partner Maria O’Meagher.
However, with the case not to go before the court until October 2023, MacGill’s life has been left “paused” as he deals with the trauma.
The 51-year-old has recorded an interview with 7News Spotlight that will air on Sunday night but spoke to SEN on Friday to reveal the details of the spine-chilling experience.
“Unfortunately, that (court date) is the biggest problem for me because I sort of feel like it’s pretty much put everything on hold for me,” he told SEN WA Breakfast.
“It is an ongoing police investigation… (but) I’ve made a statement to police and it’s on record, so I can discuss my statement with you.
“I never really got along well with my partner’s brother, I actually thought he was a bit of a d--k to be honest and it’s turned out I was right.
“I made a (business) introduction (between a friend and Maria's brother).
“The two of them then went away and did some business and there was a theft, it was alleged that my friend had knocked off Maria’s brother, and that caused all sorts of problems for me because they considered I was responsible for that.
“That certainly wasn’t the case, I was not involved in their business in any way, shape or form and I never would be.
“Consequently, Maria’s brother came round to my place and told me it was my fault and I was responsible.
“It was not something you’d even like to happen to your worst enemy.
“Later in the day, it was getting quite dark, I was bundled into a car.
“I didn’t want to get into the car, I said to them twice, ‘I’m not getting in the car,’ but then it became obvious they were armed, and they said, ‘We know you’re not involved, we just want to have a chat,’ then they put me in the car and I was in the car for an hour and a half.
MacGill, originally from Perth, says he was largely unfamiliar with the Sydney roads and described his time in the car as “the longest hour and a half of my life”.
“I didn’t know where we were, I didn’t know where we were going and I was scared. From that point, they stripped me naked, beat me up, threatened me and then just dumped me.
“That was over the course of maybe three hours out in the middle of nowhere in a little shed. I was scared, I was humiliated and I really didn’t know what was going to happen. Then they chucked me back in the car and dropped me in Belmore, and I didn’t really know where I was then either, to be honest.”
It was then the former Leg-spinner found a “sympathetic” cab driver who took MacGill home. However, he says “things got even a little weirder”.
“They’d told me I had to come up with money to ease their burden, despite the fact they told me over and over again I had nothing to do with the business transaction. I wasn’t even aware of it,” MacGill added.
“I’ve felt a huge amount of pressure. I basically ran away for a month afterward. Maria chucked me in the back of her car, I was in the boot, I got out of my unit, then I had a couple of mates who very generously put me up in hotels around Sydney for two or three weeks, and then I went away with (a friend).
“We ended up driving up the coast of New South Wales and through Queensland and ended up on Fraser Island, so all up I was probably away for six weeks or so.
“By the time I got home most of the guys had been arrested, which was good.”
Speaking to the media in-depth for the first time since the assault, MacGill has suffered lasting impacts.
From not wanting to go outside, avoiding crowds and being left without work, he’s suffered a terrible fate for simply introducing two business partners.
“I don’t like going outside, to be honest. I try to put a brave face on it, I'm not a big fan of crowds anymore. I sort of feel as though there’s been so much media coverage that everybody is talking about me. I’m wrong, I’m just paranoid, I know that, but paranoia is a very real thing, but I am nervous, I don’t like it,” MacGill continued.
“I’ve tried different ways of coping with it.”
MacGill also praised the response he's received from the Major Crimes division of the Police.
“In the days following the abduction I was shaking all the time… If I felt in any danger now, I could just phone them and someone would be here in five minutes, they’ve been fantastic,” he said.
With the case not going to trial until October 2023, MacGill expanded on his earlier comment that his life was “on hold”, suggesting he was doing this interview – as well as Channel 7’s to try and close that chapter of his life.
“I have felt, as I mentioned, I’ve felt stuck. I’ve felt like everything has sort of been paused since April last year, so it’s over a year now,” he said.
“I’m not working… the press to a large degree have caused me some headaches because there was some freelance guy sitting outside my house for eight months of last year, which makes it almost impossible for me to go outside in the daytime.
“The time wasn’t right (to talk earlier), (but) I feel like I’ve got to try to move on.
“I saw the spotlight program as an opportunity for me to … speak publicly for pretty much the first time and get my side of the story out there, particularly considering court’s not for another 18 months.
“I think if court was around the corner then I would be less inclined (to do the interviews)… but I think it’s going to be difficult for me after the show airs because it’s going to be brought up again, but hopefully this time it might die down a bit quicker and I can get on with my life.
“I’ve found the media to be almost suffocating. I don’t have free-to-air TV in my house anymore, I don’t read the newspapers at all.
“Hopefully this will settle things down a little bit so we don’t have to go through this anymore, me and my family, because it’s driving me crazy. I don’t like sitting on the couch 24 hours a day.”
All four of MacGill’s attackers will stand trial together. A readiness hearing will be held on September 15, 2023, to determine if the case is ready to proceed.
Listen to MacGill's harrowing account on the incident below from the 23.00 minute mark. Before that, he also speaks about his relationship with Shane Warne, coaching aspirations and his relationship with cricket now