Former Australia cricketer Stuart MacGill has finally opened up on the horrific kidnapping incident that shook him in 2021. The former teammate of Shane Warne, MacGill was kidnapped, beaten up, and stripped naked before the kidnappers dumped him in the middle of nowhere.
Speaking to SEN In an interview, MacGill recollected the trauma he faced after the incident. The 51-year-old former spinner said that he had reservations about his partner's brother and his doubts were proven right. “I never really got along well with my partner’s brother, I actually thought he was a bit of a d--k to be honest and it’s turned out I was right.
"I made a (business) introduction (between a friend and Maria's brother). The two of them then went away and did some business and there was a theft, it was alleged that my friend had knocked off Maria’s brother, and that caused all sorts of problems for me because they thought I was responsible for that," Macgill was quoted as saying by sen.com.au.
MacGill added that he was short on options and had to obey the kidnappers when they asked him to get into their vehicle as they were armed. Police have since arrested four men including his partner's brother.
The former Australia spinner also said that his partner's brother came round to his place and accused him of being involved in the theft. On the same day, MacGill was kidnapped into a car and when he refused to go with the kidnappers, they told him they were armed and the former cricketer had no choice but to listen to the kidnappers.
“Later in the day, it was getting quite dark, I was bundled into a car. I didn’t want to get into the car, I said to them twice, ‘I’m not getting in the car,’ but then it became obvious they were armed, and they said, ‘We know you’re not involved, we just want to have a chat,’ then they put me in the car and I was in the car for an hour and a half," he said.
The kidnappers took MacGill away and the 51-year-old described the time he spent in that car with the kidnappers as the 'longest hour and a half of his life'.
“I didn’t know where we were, I didn’t know where we were going and I was scared. From that point, they stripped me naked, beat me up, threatened me, and then just dumped me," Macgill said.
The former Australian cricketer spent three hours in a shed, and the kidnappers came back only to drop him off in Belmore, New South Wales. MacGill said he had no idea where he was at that time and a cab driver came to his rescue and dropped him home. MacGill still has to wait to get justice as the trial in his case will not take place before October 2023.