Rugby star Stuart Hogg given non-harassment order

PA Media Stuart Hogg with his hair slicked back in a brown jacket with a white shirt and tie underneathPA Media
Stuart Hogg appeared at Jedburgh Sheriff Court

Former Scotland rugby union captain Stuart Hogg has been given a five-year non-harassment order and fined £600 after breaching bail conditions.

Sentencing of the ex-Scotland international for abusing his estranged wife over the course of five years has been deferred until January.

The 32-year-old previously admitted shouting and swearing and acting in an abusive manner towards his wife Gillian.

At Jedburgh Sheriff Court, Sheriff Peter Paterson imposed a non-harassment order for five years preventing Hogg from having any contact with his wife but deferred sentence on the domestic abuse charge to 9 January.

Hogg earlier admitted breaching bail conditions by repeatedly contacting his wife in June.

Sheriff Paterson deferred sentence on the domestic abuse charge to see if it was possible for Hogg to complete a rehabilitation course remotely now that he is playing rugby in France

Last month, Hogg, who plays for Montpellier, admitted a single charge which related to repeated abusive behaviour towards his now estranged wife.

Over a five-year period, up to August this year, he engaged in a course of conduct which caused her fear or alarm.

The court heard how he regularly shouted and swore at his wife while they lived in Hawick, as well as when they lived in Exeter when Hogg played for Exeter Chiefs.

PA Media Stuart Hogg in a Scotland rugby top with the ball in hand runs forward with a large bandage on his kneePA Media
Hogg was capped 100 times by his country

The charge also involved Hogg monitoring his wife's movements through the Find My Phone app after they had split up in 2023, and him sending her sometimes hundreds of text messages in the space of a few hours.

He will now be sentenced for that in the new year.

The former Glasgow Warriors fullback retired from rugby union before last year's World Cup having amassed a century of senior caps and having been involved in three British and Irish Lions tours.

He remains one of Scotland's all-time leading try scorers and was awarded an MBE in the 2024 New Year honours list for services to rugby union.

Hogg came out of retirement in the summer to sign a two-year contract with Montpellier.