Former cricketer Stuart MacGill sentenced over cocaine deal

ABC NEWS (Australia)

Former test cricketer Stuart MacGill has avoided jail over his role in a major cocaine deal. The 54-year-old was found guilty of making the introduction that allowed the deal to go ahead.

Transcript

00:00A master at taking wickets in his prime.

00:05Stuart McGill was dismissed from court today, having avoided jail time.

00:09The judge's remarks are fairly scathing, would you agree?

00:12In March, a jury found the ex-spinner guilty of knowingly taking part in the supply of cocaine

00:17after introducing his dealer to his then-partner's brother, Marina Sotteropoulos.

00:22The deal went wrong, leading to McGill being kidnapped at gunpoint.

00:26He's now been sentenced to a 22-month intensive corrections order to be served in the community.

00:31The judge said while McGill's knowledge of the eventual deal was limited,

00:34the introduction of the pair resulted in the supply.

00:38The offender therefore played an indispensable role in the preliminary discussions over a number of days

00:43and facilitated the supply by introducing the buyer to the supplier.

00:48The judge described McGill's offending as a colossal lapse of judgment

00:52and said the evidence he'd given had been implausible.

00:55McGill showed little emotion as his sentence was read out.

00:59Do you consider it a win today that he's able to walk through it?

01:01Uh, of sorts.

01:04Does he consider it that way?

01:05I believe he would, yes.

01:07His sentence includes almost 500 hours of community service.

01:11Consideration will be given to an appeal, certainly in relation to both sentence and conviction.

01:16Leaving the door open for a decision review.

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