Community payback order is criticised
Rugby star Stuart Hogg’s sentence for domestic abuse has been slammed by a leading charity.
The former Scotland captain, and current Montpellier player, was given a one-year community payback order this week for five years of abuse against his now estranged wife.
Women's Aid said the sentence sets a bad example and is not proportionate to the harm Hogg inflicted.
Hogg, the court was told, would regularly shout and swear at his former partner, send her distressing messages and track her movements.
The former Glasgow Warriors and Exeter Chiefs player, who was described as being angry and controlling during the relationship, is also said to have left his victim scared by his behaviour when he had been drinking.
She reported “wishing for it to be morning as quickly as possible so that he would sober up and things would stop.”
Handing down sentence Sheriff Peter Paterson told Hogg that he wouldn't interrupt Hogg's playing career.
Scottish Women’s Aid CEO Marsha Scott said: ‘’Children and women living with domestic abuse have said for decades that the impact of coercive control - the stalking, the micromanaging of mothering, of where they go, what they wear, what they're allowed to say - is far more traumatic than a physical assault.
"It can have a profound and lasting toll on survivors' mental, emotional, and physical well-being.
"This is why domestic abuse is often called 'intimate terrorism', which reflects the relentless tactics abusers use to dominate, manipulate, and control their partners, creating a prison of fear that is invisible to those just looking for a physical injury.
"Scotland may have the 'world's gold standard' domestic abuse law, but it is long past time that our systems catch up to the intent of the Scottish Parliament, and deliver the potential built into the law.
"Until that happens, that law is just a piece of paper if you're living with domestic abuse. Or perpetrating coercive control.
"The sentence in this case, like so many handed down in Scotland, hardly meets the test of being proportionate when compared to the harm this man has caused.’’
Lynne Barrie, procurator fiscal for Lothian and Borders, added: "Stuart Hogg has now been convicted and held accountable for subjecting his estranged wife to years of domestic abuse.
"The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service recognises the devastating impact of domestic abuse and is committed to the robust prosecution of offences, regardless of who the offender is.
"No-one should have to live in fear of a partner or former partner. The trauma suffered by victims - and children who witness these crimes - is significant.
"I would urge anyone affected by similar offending to come forward and report it."
Those affected by domestic abuse can contact Scottish Women’s Aid.
