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Former England cross-code convert Sam Burgess's intimidation conviction appeal upheld

(Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)

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.

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A magistrate in February found the 32-year-old Burgess had yelled “f*** you, I’m going to get you” 20 centimetres from Mitchell Hooke’s face during an expletive-riddled rage, sparked when Burgess was asked to leave the Hookes’ Southern Highlands property in October 2019.

Goulburn District Court Judge Mark Williams on Friday upheld Burgess’s appeal, saying the former footballer’s version of events was “at least, reasonably possible”.

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The form Richie Mo’unga is showing that has ended the All Blacks first-five debate

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The form Richie Mo’unga is showing that has ended the All Blacks first-five debate

He found “of little relevance” the evidence of the only third-party witness, Mr Hooke’s daughter and Burgess’s sister-in-law Harriet, who had come upon the men arguing after the alleged threats were made.

“This was a case of the word of Burgess against the word of Hooke,” he said.

Judge Williams said the onus remained on the Crown at all times to prove beyond reasonable doubt that an offence occurred.

An accused person “does not have to prove that his version is true” but if the court thinks it “might” be true, he must be acquitted, the judge said.

“The Crown has not eliminated the reasonable possibility that the reasons given by Burgess are true,” the judge said.

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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 Mr 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.

As Burgess was driving out of the driveway, he stopped to take photographs of Mr Hooke and other people outside the house he said showed why he’d been loath to leave.

The Moss Vale magistrate instead proposed Burgess had become conscious of his offending conduct and snapped pictures to “arm” himself with material to defend himself.

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“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,” Judge Williams said.

Mr Hooke in October testified his own calm words were rebutted with “f*** you, I’m going to get you, you orchestrated all of this”.

“Six foot five, 118 kilograms, threatening to hit me, I was terrified,” the now-65-year-old told the court.

“I had never felt fear like it. My whole body went cold.”

Burgess retired in 2019 after a 270-game NRL and English Super League career and stints with England’s 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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AM 40 minutes ago
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That's Cron's job though. Australia has had one of the most penalised scrums in international rugby for a long time. Just look at the scrum win loss percentage and scrum penalties. That is your evidence. AA has been the starter during that period. Pretty simple analysis. That Australia has had a poor scrum for a long time is hardly news. If bell and thor are not on the field they are woeful. So you are just plain wrong. They have very little time for the lions so doing the same old things that dont work is not going to get them there.


Ainsley is better than our next best tighthead options and has been playing well at scrum time for Lyon in the most competitive comp in the world. Superstar player? No. But better than the next best options. So that is a good enough guide. The scrummaging in the Prem is pretty good too so there is Sio's proof. Same analysis for him. Certainly better in both cases than Super, where the brumbies had the worst win loss and scrum pen in Super. Who plays there? Ohh yes... And the level of scrummaging in Super is well below the URC, prem and France with the SA teams out.


Nongorr is truly woeful. He's 130kg and gets shoved about. That just should not be happening at that weight for a specialist prop who has always played rugby cf pone with leauge. He has had enough time to develop at 23. You'd be better off with Pone who is at least good around the field for the moment and sending Nongorr on exchange to France or England to see if they can improve him with better coaching as happened with Skelton and Meafou. He isn't going to develop in time in super if he has it at all.


Latu is a better scrummaging hooker than BPA and Nasser. and he's the best aussie player over the ball at ruck time. McReight's super jackling percentage hasnt converted to international level but latu consistently does it at heniken level, which is similar to test level in the big games. With good coaching at La Rochelle he's much improved though still has the odd shocker. He should start the November games.

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