The wife of former Scotland and British Lions international Stuart Hogg was forced to regularly hide in her children’s bedrooms as her drunken husband shouted abuse and accused her of not being ‘fun’. During a five-year period of domestic abuse, he once sent 200 abusive messages to Gillian Hogg’s phone and would use apps to track her movements.
On Monday the disgraced Hogg, 32, pleaded guilty at Selkirk Sheriff Court to a single charge of domestic abuse from 2019 to 2024.
The former full-back, accompanied by his parents Margaret and John, entered the plea on the day he had been due to stand trial, and has now been ordered to return to court on December 5 for sentencing.
Prosecutor Drew Long told the court that Hogg’s partner would be left wishing it to “be morning as quickly as possible” so that the abusive behaviour of her partner would stop. The ex-Glasgow Warriors and Exeter Chiefs player was also said to be “angry and controlling,” with his behaviour concerning his wife’s friends.
“He would regularly shout and swear at her, using particularly offensive language and criticising her for not being fun,” he said. “This would be in response to her wanting to look after her children rather than coming to drink with him and his friends.”
The court heard that Hogg, who won 100 caps for Scotland and captained his country from 2020 to 2023, began going out more often after signing for Exeter and moving to Devon in 2019. When the couple returned to Hawick last year, his alcohol intake increased further.
“He would regularly shout and swear at her, using particularly offensive language and criticising her for not being fun,” continued Mr Long. “This would be in response to her wanting to look after her children rather than coming to drink with him and his friends.”
In late 2023 the pair, who were married in August 2016, split up with Gillian and the children moving to live with her parents. But despite the break-up, Hogg would still inundate his ex with relentless phone calls and text messages.
“She took advice from a domestic abuse advisory service and no longer felt safe in her home,” continued Mr Long. “Mr Hogg sent his wife a series of messages which were aggressive in tone and led her to having a panic attack. Since the break-up there were days when Mr Hogg sent in excess of 200 text messages over a period of a few hours, despite having been asked to leave Mrs Hogg alone.”
In February this year, Hogg was arrested and told not to contact his wife, but soon breached that order. Angela Gray, KC, defending, said: “Mr Hogg accepts these incidents in isolation fell short of what’s expected as a husband.”
Just a month before his arrest, Hogg was made an MBE in the 2024 New Year Honours list for services to rugby union. He and Gillian are currently going through divorce proceedings, with Hogg now expecting a child with his new girlfriend Leonna Mayor, 34, a former jockey and TV presenter.
