Ex-Scotland captain Stuart Hogg pleads guilty to five-year campaign of abuse against wife

The former Scottish rugby captain Stuart Hogg has admitted abusing his estranged wife over a period of five years.

The 32-year-old, who won 100 caps for his country and was previously Scotland’s all-time record try scorer, pleaded guilty to acting in an abusive manner towards his wife Gillian between 2019 and 2024 at Selkirk Sheriff Court on Monday.

He also admitted repeatedly tracking her movements and bombarding her with messages, sometimes of an “alarming and distressing” nature. The court heard that he once sent more than 200 messages in a couple of hours. Sheriff Peter Paterson deferred sentence until Dec 5 for background reports.

A three-day trial for Hogg, who had previously entered not guilty pleas to multiple charges, had been scheduled to begin on Monday morning.

However, other not guilty pleas were accepted by prosecutors after he pleaded guilty to a single charge relating to behaviour over the five-year period, at locations including Hawick, the Scottish Borders, and Bearsden, Glasgow.

The court heard that Hogg’s behaviour left the mother of his children scared and often wishing “it was morning so he would sober up”.

It was stated that he would regularly go out drinking with colleagues and come home and behave abusively, accusing his wife of “not being fun” for choosing to stay upstairs with their children.

Prosecutor Drew Long said that the Hoggs were now “in the process of a divorce” and while together had regularly argued about where the family should live during his rugby career.

He said that the couple moved to Exeter in 2019 with their three young children, all aged under three, but Hogg’s “behaviour deteriorated” as he went out partying with colleagues.

In 2022, Mrs Hogg went on a night out and was bombarded with text messages from her husband which “caught the attention of the people she was with”, the court heard.

The following year, the couple moved to Hawick but Hogg used an app to track his wife and “questioned her whereabouts” while she was dropping the children off, Mr Long said.

In 2023, Mrs Hogg decided to leave the rugby player and sought advice from a domestic abuse service.

But in September 2023, Hogg sent so many messages that it “led [Mrs Hogg] to have a panic attack”, and he “sent in excess of 200 texts in a few hours despite being asked to leave her alone”, the court heard.

In February 2024, Hogg entered the family home despite being told not to and became “belligerent”, and Mrs Hogg sought legal advice.

On Feb 21, police were called due to Hogg “shouting and swearing” and he was taken into custody and then placed on a bail order stipulating not to contact Gillian, or to enter the family home.

He defied the instructions not to contact his wife, asking his children to put her on a video call while he was speaking to them in August 2024.

His latest arrest came last month, when he returned to Scotland after scoring a try on his debut for Montpellier on his comeback to professional rugby.

Hogg and his wife married at Barony Castle in Peeblesshire in 2016 but split last year while she was pregnant with their fourth child.

Hogg has started a new relationship with Leonna Mayor, a horse racing presenter who has been described as “the world’s sexiest jockey”. The couple announced that they were expecting their first child last month.

He announced his retirement from rugby at the age of 31 in July 2023, but then signed for French club Montpellier in July.

He arrived at court with his mother Margaret and father John, wearing a dark blue suit, a bandage on his hand and a Remembrance Day poppy.

Defending Hogg, Angela Gray KC said: “The incidents in isolation would have been unlikely to reach the threshold required for a prosecution in the criminal courts.

“Mr Hogg accepts these incidents have in isolation fallen short of what is expected of a husband.

“It is accepted by Mr Hogg that his conduct, looked at within that framework [of Domestic Abuse Act 2018], was criminal in nature.”

She said that the “deteriorating” relationship had been subject to additional “scrutiny placed on it”, and that Hogg’s position was that his behaviour was “never intended to be abusive”.

Hogg was bailed until his sentencing next month.