Cremorne resident and former Test cricketer Stuart MacGill avoids jail over coke deal.

By MIKLOS BLOZA and ADELAIDE LANG

An ex-Australian Test cricketer will serve a community sentence after being convicted over a cocaine deal which led to his violent kidnapping.

Former legspinner Stuart MacGill supplied drugs for the deal between his regular dealer and his brother-in-law in April 2021, a jury found in March.

The 54-year-old knew the cocaine was worth $330,000 but he was oblivious to the fact that a one-kilogram brick had changed hands.

Jurors found the Cremorne resident not guilty of taking part in a large commercial drug supply but found him guilty of the lesser charge of supplying an indictable quantity of coke.

MacGill appeared at Downing Centre District Court on Friday where a statement from former Test captain Steve Waugh backed his former colleague.

Watch: Stuart MacGill – Downing Centre District Court.

He was sentenced to an intensive corrections order of one year and 10 months.

MacGill must complete 495 hours of community service work and undergo drug testing as part of the order, in lieu of a prison term.

Judge Nicole Noman found the ex-leg spinner played an indispensable role setting up the cocaine deal.

“His role was essential to bring the parties together and for the transaction to occur,” she said.

The lucrative cocaine deal put MacGill on the path to his violent kidnapping after his drug dealer stole two bricks of cocaine in a drug ripoff.

MacGill was bundled into a car and taken to a home in western Sydney where he was stripped and beaten before being released.

“He was understandably scared and threatened,” Judge Noman said.

She reduced his sentence, recognising the “extreme retaliation” taken against MacGill after the drug deal.

Because of the kidnapping, the former cricketer had been diagnosed with chronic post-traumatic stress disorder and major depressive disorder, the judge heard.

The incident then spurred adverse media reports against him, the judge found.

“The offender’s colossal lapse of judgment has been causative of a very public fall from grace,” she said.

Once viewed as one of Australia’s top spin bowlers, MacGill is now on JobSeeker while working as a casual cricket coach.

Judge Noman found that the 54-year-old deliberately lied to police about his involvement in the drug deal and gave incorrect instructions to his lawyers during the trial about the setting in which the introduction took place.

He had shown no remorse, continuing to plead his innocence despite the jury’s guilty verdict for knowingly taking part in the supply of between five and 250 grams of cocaine, she said.

“Drugs – even cocaine – cause direct and indirect harm to the community,” Judge Noman said.

“Given the offender’s regular use … he should well have understood the scope of the harm.”

As with earlier court appearances, MacGill said nothing to reporters outside court after being sentenced.

But an appeal of both conviction and sentence was being considered, barrister Thos Hodgson said.

The former cricketer walking from court without being put behind bars was a win “of sorts”, he said.

MacGill retired from cricket in 2008 after playing 44 Tests during which he claimed 208 wickets.