Three men who assaulted former Australian cricketer Stuart MacGill over a drug debt have avoided jail time. The trio pleaded guilty to stalking, intimidation, and assault occasioning actual bodily harm in company after charges of kidnapping were dropped.
The Downing Centre District Court heard that MacGill was taken from his Cremorne home in April 2021 to an abandoned property in Bringelly, where he was held for hours and punched several times. The incident stemmed from a drug deal gone wrong, in which MacGill brokered the sale of two kilograms of cocaine. When the buyer handed over blank pieces of paper instead of $660,000 in cash, MacGill was held responsible for the theft.
Richard Schaaf approached MacGill outside his home and told him he needed to pay back the money. MacGill was then taken by Schaaf and his brother Frederick to the Bringelly property. During the ordeal, MacGill was searched for listening devices and directed to a shed, where he was punched in the head multiple times as the group demanded $150,000. An associate, Vaeluagaomatagi Feilo, had purchased garden shears, rope, and cable ties.
MacGill briefly escaped, hiding in the boot of a neighbor's car, but was lured back under the pretense of helping identify the drug thief. His phone was taken and later returned to a newspaper office. The Schaaf brothers and Feilo expressed remorse in court, with character references describing Richard Schaaf as a 'gentle giant' who had turned his life around.
Judge Phillip Mahony sentenced Richard Schaaf and Feilo to Intensive Corrections Orders of one year and eight months, while Frederick Schaaf received an ICO of nine months. All three avoided jail time.
