One of the six men who had been charged with the alleged kidnapping of former Australian cricketer Stuart MacGill has had his charges dropped just before he was due to go to trial.
In May, MacGill avoided jail time after a jury found him guilty of taking part in the supply of $330,000 worth of cocaine.
The 54-year-old is serving a community sentence after the jury found him guilty of a lesser charge of supplying an indictable quantity of cocaine.
However, the jury found him not guilty of taking part in a large commercial drug supply.
MacGill had pleaded not guilty but admitted that he had introduced his partner’s brother to his drug dealer, adding that he had not played a part in the drug deal.
The jury later rejected that claim, with Judge Nicole Noman sentencing MacGill to an intensive corrections order which will span one year and 10 months.
One of the men who was alleged to have kidnapped former Australian cricketer Stuart MacGill (pictured) has had the charges against him dropped
The right-arm leg spinner (pictured) played 44 Test matches and three ODI matches for Australia
Judge Noman told the court that MacGill had played an indispensable role in facilitating the drug deal.
‘His role was essential to bring the parties together and for the transaction to occur,’ the judge said.
The events that transpired later led to MacGill allegedly being kidnapped.
A group of six men had been due to stand trial on Monday at the NSW District Court in Parramatta.
The group included Frederick Schaaf, Richard Schaaf, Elijah Schaaf, Marino Sotiropoulos, Son Minh Nguyen and Vaeluagaomatagi Feilo.
But the court heard on Monday that the Director of Public Prosecutions had chosen to withdraw the charges against Elijah Schaaf.
Elijah Schaaf had pleaded not guilty to one count of being an accessory after the fact to kidnapping.
He also pleaded not guilty to a separate charge of being an accessory before the fact to take or detain in company with an intention to get an advantage.
The other men have all pleaded not guilty to their alleged roles in the kidnapping.
In May, MacGill (pictured) avoided jail time after a jury found him guilty of taking part in the supply of $330,000 worth of cocaine
MacGill was alleged to have been kidnapped from outside his Cremorne apartment in April 2021.
The former Australian cricketer was allegedly taken to a property at Bringelly.
It is alleged he was assaulted and threatened with a gun. Alleged demands for money were also made. MacGill was allegedly held for an hour before he was released.
The right-arm leg spinner played 44 Test matches and three ODI matches for Australia.
He’d go on to take 208 wickets during his Test Career, while scoring 6038 runs.
In his domestic career, he’d play for New South Wales, Nottinghamshire, Somerset and Western Australia, taking 774 wickets before permanently retiring from cricket in 2012, after coming out of retirement to play for the Sydney Sixers for a season.
