Former Australian spinner Stuart MacGill was allegedly kidnapped and assaulted by four people including the brother of his girlfriend Maria O' Meagher.
However, Maria has reportedly claimed that she was not “close” to Marino Sotiropolous who kidnapped MacGill with the help of three other persons last month.
50-year-old MacGill – who played for Australia between 1998 and 2008 and was once ranked the world's second-best bowler behind his team-mate, Shane Warne – reportedly sustained minor injuries in the incident but the former Test cricketer didn't require medical care.
MacGill was allegedly abducted from near his home in Sydney on April 14 and taken to another part of the city where he was beaten and threatened at gunpoint with the kidnapping has been financially motivated.
On Wednesday, May 5, the New South Wales (NSW) Police arrested four men including Maria's brother Sotiropoulos in the alleged kidnapping and assault of the cricketer in Sydney.
For the past three years, MacGill has been managing a restaurant and bar called Aristotle’s at Neutral Bay on Sydney’s lower north shore owned by his former partner Maria.
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Maria’s brother Sotiropoulos has been charged with taking or detaining a company with the intent to get an advantage, occasion actual bodily harm, participate in a criminal group, and supply prohibited drugs (large commercial quantity) alongside three other men, aged 27, 29, and 42.
The police said in a statement: “Strike force detectives, with assistance from Raptor Squad and the Public Order and Riot Squad, arrested four men - aged 27, 29, 42, and 46 - from 6 am today.”
A subsequent statement confirmed the above-mentioned charges against the four men while they were refused bail and appeared at Sutherland Local Court on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Maria told The Daily Telegraph: “Stuart and I are still together. We are all still frightened...I no longer feel safe (and) I really do not understand what happened. My brother and I led very different lives and although we were brothers and sisters, we weren't that close.”
She concluded, “Everyone's fine and everyone's well, but I'm not interested in talking about what happened. Stuart is safe and we are both OK. Unfortunately, I am caught in the middle of a horrible situation but all I can do is support Stu and my family. My elderly parents and children are really suffering and I am fearful for them. They are really in the dark about what happened.”
MacGill has not yet given any public statement on the incident.
(With ANI Inputs)
