Two brothers accused of kidnapping former Australian Test cricketer Stuart MacGill have been granted strict conditional bail by the NSW Supreme Court.
Brothers Frederick Schaaf, 28, and Richard Schaaf, 30, are accused of kidnapping the former spin bowler on April 14, 2021.
The pair who face one charge of taking or detaining a person in company to get advantage and occasioning actual bodily harm were granted bail by Justice Richard Button on Thursday.
According to MacGill’s police statement following the incident, he was punched repeatedly to the front and back of his face and into his chin, causing him to become concussed.
The Crown conceded that no medical reports or witness statements substantiated the severity of the alleged beating he suffered.
The Schaaf brother’s barrister Avni Djemal submitted there was “a high level” of evidence that implicated MacGill in the drug transaction and was surprised he had not been charged over the incident.
“There may be some question as to whether the complainant got in the car willingly,” Justice Button said.
MacGill told police he was forced into a car at Cremorne on Sydney’s north shore and taken to Bringelly, south of Sydney.
Three assailants then allegedly tried to extort money from the 51-year-old before dropping him about 45 minutes away in Belmore about an hour later.
He could not identify the men who kidnapped him but said they spoke Tongan.
He waited a week to report the incident to police saying he was so frightened by the experience and had been threatened with a gun.
The Crown alleges the men kidnapped and brutalised MacGill who was running a restaurant at the time to obtain money for a drug “rip-off,” purportedly committed by a man introduced to them by the cricketer, according to the judgment.
The court was told that Frederick Schaaf had two phones, one located inside the car allegedly used in the kidnapping.
But Mr Djemal said his other covert Cipher phone was nowhere near the car, and argued his other overt phone was left inside the car while it was borrowed.
The Schaaf brothers have been held in custody since their arrest in May 2021.
The Crown submitted the case against Richard Schaaf was “reasonable,” while his brother’s was “not strong, but it is nevertheless a reasonable” case.
Frederick Schaaf’s “lamentable” dental health made up part of his application after the court was told he could not secure adequate medical attention while in custody.
He was bailed to live “under virtual house arrest” and to look after his sick mother, Justice Button said.
The men must report to Marrickville Police Station daily, abide by a curfew, not communicate with any of the co-accused and not go within three kilometres of Cremorne Junction LPO, among other conditions.
A District Court trial in Sydney has been set down for October 23, 2023.
