Former Scotland rugby captain Stuart Hogg pleads guilty to domestic abuse

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails

Sign up to our free breaking news emails

Please enter a valid email address

Please enter a valid email address

SIGN UP

I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy

Former Scottish rugby union captain Stuart Hogg has admitted abusing his estranged wife over the course of five years.

Hogg, 32, pleaded guilty when he appeared at Selkirk Sheriff Court on Monday, where he had been due to stand trial.

The father-of-four was accompanied by his parents when he arrived at the court to admit a single charge of domestic abuse between 2019 and 2024 at locations including Hawick, Scottish Borders, and Bearsden in Glasgow.

Standing in the dock with a bandaged hand, he admitted a single charge which said he “did engage in a course of behaviour which was abusive of your ex-partner, Gillian Hogg”.

The charge added that he “did shout and swear in an aggressive manner, track her movements (and) send her messages which were alarming and distressing in nature”.

Hogg berated his wife for “not being fun” as he went on drinking binges with colleagues. He would send “in excess of 200 text messages in a few hours despite having been asked to leave her alone” at times, which “led to Mrs Hogg to have a panic attack”.

The couple argued about where they would live, prosecutor Drew Long told the court, adding: “Stuart Hogg and Gillian Hogg are a married couple in the process of a divorce. They have four children.”

Hogg’s “behaviour deteriorated” when the couple moved to Exeter in 2019 with their three young children.

Mrs Hogg was “scared” of her husband when he was angry and she would “wish it was morning so he would sober up”, Mr Long added.

Mrs Hogg’s family “noticed a change” in their relative, Mr Long added.

When the couple moved to Hawick, Hogg started using an app to track his wife and “questioned her whereabouts” while she was dropping off the children. Mrs Hogg left the rugby player in 2023 and sought advice from a domestic abuse service.

Hogg became “belligerent” after he entered the family home in February 2024 despite being told not to. Mrs Hogg sought legal advice.

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

The court then heard in August 2024, Hogg was on a video call to his children and requested that they pass the device to Mrs Hogg, despite instructions not to contact her.

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”, the court was told.

Hogg has 100 caps for Scotland and has spent his club career at Glasgow Warriors and Exeter Chiefs.

He joined Montpellier in July this year, making his professional debut for the club on 7 September.

Sentencing was deferred until 5 December at Jedburgh Sheriff Court.