Elderslie_Tiger
Well-known member
Burgess's people are talking suing for defamation already
Drugs, sex, domestic violence: football’s cover-up
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Burgess's people are talking suing for defamation already
Elderslie_Tiger
Well-known member
Off season entertainment
Masterton
Well-known member
That scandal had blown up when a woman complained to the club she had been subjected to sexual harassment by Burgess and other players during a video call in which Burgess allegedly showed her his penis.
She went to the media after the club failed to act on her complaint and the story was published in The Daily Telegraph in September 2018. The newspaper did not name her.
In text messages obtained by The Australian, Burgess refers to the woman’s name possibly being leaked to the media.
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“Todd Greenberg confirmed to me that I’m not suspended. It’s a joke, it’s all going to turn in our favour. Her name is getting leaked, going to get leaked her tits were shown. Also leaked they’re roosters fans. The tide will turn soon. Honest be patient. People are catching on,” Burgess said in a text message to his wife on September 17, 2018, that was forwarded to a friend and obtained by The Australian.
Sources close to Greenberg said, despite immense pressure from the Rabbitohs, he had only told Burgess he could continue playing until the investigation was complete, which is consistent with his public comments at the time.
It can also be revealed Phoebe Burgess told Rabbitohs co-owner Russell Crowe about Burgess’s alleged use of “heavy drugs” as well as “booze” and “girls on social media” in a text message on November 26, 2018 at 5.43am. The messages were annexed to Phoebe Burgess’s statement to police as part of her father’s AVO case.
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The concerned Hollywood legend then contacted Burgess, with Burgess complaining in a text message the same day at 7.35am: “Phoebe why did you message RC saying everything … I am at work today fixing the club and now they think I’m a drug addict. What are you trying to solve here. Such lies.”
Phoebe Burgess also sent Crowe a message on September 24, 2018, about another incident when Burgess went missing from his family for 48 hours after the September 22 preliminary final against the Roosters, asking if Crowe knew where Burgess was. Crowe said he had not heard from him since the game.
A second senior Souths official was also told of Burgess’s alleged abuse of prescription medications including Xanax and Kalma (both anti-anxiety benzodiazepines) and Imovane (a sleep-inducer) in text messages from Phoebe Burgess on February 20, 2019.At 12.03pm on February 21 the official texted her: “Totally get it. Let’s get him off them.”
Club complaint
The Australian has also interviewed a Melbourne woman who declined to be named but has signed a statutory declaration alleging the club mishandled her complaint about Burgess in September 2018.
The woman claims South Sydney CEO Blake Solly called her in September 2018 after she rang the club to make a complaint about Burgess, with whom she “unknowingly” had an affair in late 2017 during the Rugby League World Cup, when he was married with a baby at home.
The woman, who said Burgess told her he was separated from his wife, claims she became angry when she saw him on television denying a sexting scandal.
The woman claims she told Mr Solly she wanted a written apology from Burgess.
“I wanted to have no verbal contact with Sam but wanted to make it clear that he needed apologise for his actions,” she said. “Mr Solly said he would speak with Sam urgently and get back to me with a plan of attack.”
The woman claims she then started receiving numerous calls and a text message from Burgess to her old number — and when she didn’t answer it Burgess started calling her new private number. She claims — and later told police — Burgess used phrases including: “Shut your f…king mouth you pig. You are f…king dead. You are a moll. Shut your mouth slag.”
The text message from Burgess on September 19, 2018, at 4.31pm, states: “It’s Sam. Can you call when you get a chance. Thanks.”
She wrote to Mr Solly in a message on September 19, 2018, at 4.56pm: “Hi Blake, I don’t want to speak to Sam nor do I want him calling me.
“I have decided for all parties involved and to clear my conscience of any wrongdoing to just come out and tell the truth to the media on how the players treat women. Thank you again for your time today.”
Mr Solly texted back: “I’m very sorry. I am just on a conference call. I will call you ASAP. Thanks.”
Mr Solly told The Australian on Thursday: “I did not provide (the woman’s) number to Sam Burgess. I was not aware that she spoke or referred the matter to the police. In any event, the matter was referred to the NRL Integrity Unit. The complaint was treated seriously and expeditiously.”
The woman never heard from the NRL Integrity Unit.
In a statement on Thursday night the NRL said: “The club informed the Integrity Unit of information it had received from a woman regarding a personal relationship she had with former NRL player Sam Burgess. The information the Integrity Unit received did not include any allegations of threatening behaviour or other conduct which would breach NRL rules.”
The woman said she never received an apology. She said she left a voicemail on Mr Solly’s mobile phone on October 4, 2018, stating she had just left the police station having made a formal complaint because of Burgess’s “ongoing threats”.
The family man
Burgess was 21 when he arrived in Australia in 2010 to play for Russell Crowe’s Rabbitohs.
The loveable English rogue shone on the field, soon becoming a gladiator of the game. In 2014 he wrote himself into NRL folklore after he fractured his eye socket and cheekbone in the opening tackle of the grand final, and still shouldered the Rabbitohs to victory. Burgess was hailed as a god by fans and he had grown extremely close to Hollywood legend Crowe, who treated him “like a son”.
He built up a polished social media image as a devoted husband and family man, marrying Phoebe Hooke at a lavish ceremony at her parents’ property in Bowral, in the NSW Southern Highlands in 2015.Four years later, the marriage was effectively over.
According to Phoebe Burgess’s statement to police, Sam Burgess went from adoring husband to sharp-tongued critic, regularly calling her a “weak c …” to her face, telling her to “get the f … out” of his house while she breastfed their newborn son Billy and referring to her as “a c …” to his teammates in the South Sydney locker room.
In her statement to police Phoebe Burgess writes of another incident shortly after Billy’s birth in December 2018: “I was bathing the kids when Sam heard me sniffling and crying quietly. He walked into the bathroom and told me to ‘get the f…k up, you piece of shit’, ‘why are you f…king crying in front of my children, you weak c… Get the f…k out of my house. You’re pathetic.’ I couldn’t move as I had my newborn son lying on my arm in the bath.”
She went to the media after the club failed to act on her complaint and the story was published in The Daily Telegraph in September 2018. The newspaper did not name her.
In text messages obtained by The Australian, Burgess refers to the woman’s name possibly being leaked to the media.
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“Todd Greenberg confirmed to me that I’m not suspended. It’s a joke, it’s all going to turn in our favour. Her name is getting leaked, going to get leaked her tits were shown. Also leaked they’re roosters fans. The tide will turn soon. Honest be patient. People are catching on,” Burgess said in a text message to his wife on September 17, 2018, that was forwarded to a friend and obtained by The Australian.
Sources close to Greenberg said, despite immense pressure from the Rabbitohs, he had only told Burgess he could continue playing until the investigation was complete, which is consistent with his public comments at the time.
It can also be revealed Phoebe Burgess told Rabbitohs co-owner Russell Crowe about Burgess’s alleged use of “heavy drugs” as well as “booze” and “girls on social media” in a text message on November 26, 2018 at 5.43am. The messages were annexed to Phoebe Burgess’s statement to police as part of her father’s AVO case.
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The concerned Hollywood legend then contacted Burgess, with Burgess complaining in a text message the same day at 7.35am: “Phoebe why did you message RC saying everything … I am at work today fixing the club and now they think I’m a drug addict. What are you trying to solve here. Such lies.”
Phoebe Burgess also sent Crowe a message on September 24, 2018, about another incident when Burgess went missing from his family for 48 hours after the September 22 preliminary final against the Roosters, asking if Crowe knew where Burgess was. Crowe said he had not heard from him since the game.
A second senior Souths official was also told of Burgess’s alleged abuse of prescription medications including Xanax and Kalma (both anti-anxiety benzodiazepines) and Imovane (a sleep-inducer) in text messages from Phoebe Burgess on February 20, 2019.At 12.03pm on February 21 the official texted her: “Totally get it. Let’s get him off them.”
Club complaint
The Australian has also interviewed a Melbourne woman who declined to be named but has signed a statutory declaration alleging the club mishandled her complaint about Burgess in September 2018.
The woman claims South Sydney CEO Blake Solly called her in September 2018 after she rang the club to make a complaint about Burgess, with whom she “unknowingly” had an affair in late 2017 during the Rugby League World Cup, when he was married with a baby at home.
The woman, who said Burgess told her he was separated from his wife, claims she became angry when she saw him on television denying a sexting scandal.
The woman claims she told Mr Solly she wanted a written apology from Burgess.
“I wanted to have no verbal contact with Sam but wanted to make it clear that he needed apologise for his actions,” she said. “Mr Solly said he would speak with Sam urgently and get back to me with a plan of attack.”
The woman claims she then started receiving numerous calls and a text message from Burgess to her old number — and when she didn’t answer it Burgess started calling her new private number. She claims — and later told police — Burgess used phrases including: “Shut your f…king mouth you pig. You are f…king dead. You are a moll. Shut your mouth slag.”
The text message from Burgess on September 19, 2018, at 4.31pm, states: “It’s Sam. Can you call when you get a chance. Thanks.”
She wrote to Mr Solly in a message on September 19, 2018, at 4.56pm: “Hi Blake, I don’t want to speak to Sam nor do I want him calling me.
“I have decided for all parties involved and to clear my conscience of any wrongdoing to just come out and tell the truth to the media on how the players treat women. Thank you again for your time today.”
Mr Solly texted back: “I’m very sorry. I am just on a conference call. I will call you ASAP. Thanks.”
Mr Solly told The Australian on Thursday: “I did not provide (the woman’s) number to Sam Burgess. I was not aware that she spoke or referred the matter to the police. In any event, the matter was referred to the NRL Integrity Unit. The complaint was treated seriously and expeditiously.”
The woman never heard from the NRL Integrity Unit.
In a statement on Thursday night the NRL said: “The club informed the Integrity Unit of information it had received from a woman regarding a personal relationship she had with former NRL player Sam Burgess. The information the Integrity Unit received did not include any allegations of threatening behaviour or other conduct which would breach NRL rules.”
The woman said she never received an apology. She said she left a voicemail on Mr Solly’s mobile phone on October 4, 2018, stating she had just left the police station having made a formal complaint because of Burgess’s “ongoing threats”.
The family man
Burgess was 21 when he arrived in Australia in 2010 to play for Russell Crowe’s Rabbitohs.
The loveable English rogue shone on the field, soon becoming a gladiator of the game. In 2014 he wrote himself into NRL folklore after he fractured his eye socket and cheekbone in the opening tackle of the grand final, and still shouldered the Rabbitohs to victory. Burgess was hailed as a god by fans and he had grown extremely close to Hollywood legend Crowe, who treated him “like a son”.
He built up a polished social media image as a devoted husband and family man, marrying Phoebe Hooke at a lavish ceremony at her parents’ property in Bowral, in the NSW Southern Highlands in 2015.Four years later, the marriage was effectively over.
According to Phoebe Burgess’s statement to police, Sam Burgess went from adoring husband to sharp-tongued critic, regularly calling her a “weak c …” to her face, telling her to “get the f … out” of his house while she breastfed their newborn son Billy and referring to her as “a c …” to his teammates in the South Sydney locker room.
In her statement to police Phoebe Burgess writes of another incident shortly after Billy’s birth in December 2018: “I was bathing the kids when Sam heard me sniffling and crying quietly. He walked into the bathroom and told me to ‘get the f…k up, you piece of shit’, ‘why are you f…king crying in front of my children, you weak c… Get the f…k out of my house. You’re pathetic.’ I couldn’t move as I had my newborn son lying on my arm in the bath.”
Masterton
Well-known member
Drug warning
Crowe and another senior Souths official were made aware of Burgess’s multi-day benders and alleged drug use in the months before he was promoted to captain in April 2019.
Sam Burgess went on a two-day partying spree after his team lost the crucial preliminary final against the Roosters on September 22, 2018.
After the defeat, Burgess hit that Mad Monday hard and didn’t come home for two days, despite his wife’s pleas.On September 23, Phoebe was admitted to North Shore Private Hospital, 28 weeks pregnant.
“Phoebe was paralysed. She wasn’t eating or drinking and the baby stopped moving,” a close friend said.
She was prescribed an anti-anxiety medication safe for pregnancy. A close family member of Phoebe’s managed to get in contact with Burgess, told him his wife was in hospital and to sober up.
But Burgess allegedly refused, saying: “F … off. You can’t tell me what to do.”
Two days after the game, on 9.55pm on September 24, Phoebe Burgess texted Crowe asking if he was concerned about Burgess, in a text exchange provided to NSW Police in relation to Burgess’s pattern of behaviour.
“Are you concerned about him? Last I knew he was out partying with his teammates,” she wrote.
Crowe replied: “I haven’t heard from him since the game.”
Phoebe Burgess texted back: “He didn’t come home after the game, he called me immediately after the game in an emotional state, we were fine. Then went out with the boys without seeing us first. Then I was admitted to hospital and he sent me a message this morning but I was in ultrasound with baby. And he has just gone off the grid. I’m worried.”
Crowe was then told again about Burgess’s partying and use of drugs in another message from Phoebe Burgess two months later, on November 26, 2018.
“He is now being led by his elder brother on a trail of booze, heavy drugs and girls on social media,” Phoebe texted.
“He might need a good friend, bc he is just not our Sam. And definitely not the beautiful man I married for life.”
On November 26, Burgess hit the roof, saying “I’ve seen what you wrote to RC”. Burgess admonished Phoebe and complained that the “club” now thought he was a “drug addict”, and texted her at 7.35am: “What are you trying to solve here? Such lies.”
Drug-fuelled bender
As the Burgess family tried to recover from the sexting scandal, and Burgess’s private revelation he’d been having an affair, they eagerly awaited the birth of their second child.
On November 4, 2018, Sam and Phoebe Burgess attended a farewell barbecue at Randwick Golf Club for departing Souths player Jason Clark.
Phoebe Burgess left the party in the afternoon and says in her statement Sam Burgess promised to be home at 7.30pm with dinner. But after briefly returning home at midnight, left again. An Uber receipt from 1.03am on November 5 records him heading out.
Burgess called at 7am and admitted he had been using cocaine, according to the statement Phoebe Burgess provided to NSW Police.
“He sounded high to me. I asked him if he had done drugs. He admitted to using cocaine,” she said in the statement.
Burgess did not return home the entire day of November 5, as he continued partying with his brother Luke and others.
After a trip to Baby Bunting on her own, Phoebe Burgess grew increasingly anxious as the day unfolded and she had not heard from her husband, with his phone turned off.
Meanwhile, Luke Burgess’s ex-partner, Yolanda Hodgson, was also desperately trying to reach Luke. Ms Hodgson had been trying to call Luke Burgess since 9am, ringing about “100 times”, according to text messages obtained by The Australian.
With Ms Hodgson and Phoebe Burgess becoming increasingly panicked, both spoke to Sam’s mother Julie Burgess, who set out at 7.30pm to try to find her sons.
Text messages from the night, along with detailed accounts of what unfolded, have been provided to NSW Police as part of the upcoming AVO proceedings involving Sam Burgess and Mitch Hooke, and obtained by The Australian.
“Give me an hour,” Julie Burgess texted, “Am starting at Chifley.”
Julie Burgess managed to track down the brothers at Justin Hemmes’ swanky bar, The Establishment, in the city.
Phoebe Burgess’ statement to police alleges when Julie Burgess dropped the brothers at Sam and Phoebe’s family home, both Sam and Luke were abusive and angry.
Phoebe Burgess claims Luke started shouting at Phoebe it was not her “f…king house” and ordered her to “sit down”.
In the morning, when the pair had continued partying overnight and with yelling coming from the basement, Julie Burgess called in sick from work to try and look after her sons. It was clear they had not slept, according to Phoebe Burgess’s statement to police.
Sam was red-eyed and looked scared and confused.
According to the statement to police, Luke followed Phoebe, who had Poppy on her hip, up the stairs yelling at her: “You’re a weak c… Sam needs a strong partner. A strong woman. You’re weak. A weak c….” This isn’t your house, you f… piece of shit, you f… [This word has been automatically removed].”
He started moving towards Phoebe Burgess, pointing his finger and screaming.
Julie stepped in physically between Mrs Burgess and Luke, shocked, and sent Phoebe upstairs with Poppy and put Luke in a cab to go home.
In her statement to police, Phoebe Burgess described her husband’s state. She said Sam was shirtless, his veins popping out of his arms, he was overheating, his skin was burning hot and his eyes dark.
“He looked wild like a caged animal, he was out of his tree and scared. His eyes at this point were scared, not aggressive, they kept darting between Julie and I,” she wrote.
As the day progressed, Burgess allegedly grabbed hold of his daughter, Poppy, and refused to give her back to Phoebe or Julie.
The statement to Police alleges Burgess’ condition escalated, with Sam starting to scream and bang on the windows. Phoebe Burgess locked herself in her bedroom with her child and called fellow player, Jason Clark. “Please come and help me, I’m so scared,” Phoebe said on the phone, according to her statement to police.
Clark, who had just woken up, said he would stay on the phone while he came over, talking to her while he put his shoes on, got his keys, spoke to his wife and drove over, even describing the streets he was passing.
When Clark arrived, he and Julie took Sam back into the basement to reduce the risk of neighbours hearing the commotion.
Sam was running around, repeatedly yelling, “Where’s Biffa (Luke)? Get Biffa in the house.” One person present took a short video recording of this, which has been seen by The Australian.
Rabbitohs chief medical officer Andrew McDonald was called over to help. He also recommended calling in a psychiatric nurse, Jan Earl, who had experience with situations like this.
“Doc” Andrew McDonald promised Phoebe that if he felt Burgess’ condition was seriously deteriorating, he would take her husband to hospital, prioritising his health above his career.
“I looked Andrew McDonald in the eye and asked him to swear to me that he would tell me when it was time for me to call an ambulance and let the paramedics do their jobs. He nodded slowly and thoughtfully,” Phoebe Burgess said in her statement to police.
The statement also includes the allegation that Sam Burgess told Phoebe he had taken MDMA but later admitted to Earl he had taken six pills at once.
What unfolded was a cycle of screaming and incoherence, with episodes of violence, tears and aggression.
Prescription drugs
Witnessing much of the episode were Phoebe’s parents, Mitch and Sarah Hooke.
Mr Hooke, the former chief executive of the Minerals Council, has built a reputation over four decades as a tough negotiator.
Mr Hooke, 64, has not given a media interview since his retirement in 2013, but when asked about the events that unfolded on November 6 and 7, 2018, decided to answer questions, saying he was not prepared to be part of any cover-up.His voice quivered while describing the episode.
“We walked into a household that was in absolute turmoil,” Mr Hooke said.
“Phoebe was doing her best to guard Poppy upstairs. Sam was absolutely going bananas downstairs. There was yelling and screaming, there were other people there. People were trying to console him.”
Mr Hooke said his son-in-law’s behaviour was “beyond recognition”. “I could hear him when I arrived screaming and he was almost incoherent,” he said.
“He was loud and aggressive and just like nothing I’d ever seen or heard in anybody, and clearly a very, very different persona to anything that we had known in Phoebe’s time with him.”
Mr Hooke said Dr McDonald approached him on the stairwell to speak about Burgess’s condition.
“When the doctor came halfway up the stairs, I said: ‘You have to put this guy in hospital’,” Mr Hooke recalled.
“And he said: ‘Well he can’t go into a private hospital, he has to go to a public hospital.’ He said words to the effect: ‘If this gets out in the public arena this will impact his career or earning capacity.’
“I said: ‘I don’t give a f…k about that, I’m worried about his health.”
According to Mr Hooke, Dr McDonald then started writing out a script. He handed it to Mr Hooke. “I looked at it and I said: ‘What’s the script for?’ He said: ‘Liquid valium.’ I said: ‘This is in my name.’
“He said: ‘Yep’.”
Mr Hooke said he questioned Dr McDonald, telling him this was not right.
“He’s basically putting me in the position where I was going off to get a script made out in my name for a drug he was going to administer Sam,” he said.
“I had no alternative. Even my faint knowledge of the law knows that that’s not right but I had a doctor telling me there’s no other way. He wouldn’t put the script in Sam’s name.”
Documents obtained by The Australian confirm the prescription was issued by Mr McDonald for Burgess in Mr Hooke’s name.
The pharmacy has a prescription record of Diazepam AMP 10mg, in a quantity of 5, being issued on 6th November, 2018 to Mr Hooke, prescribed by Dr Andrew McDonald, which The Australian has obtained.
Mr Hooke’s Visa credit card statement also has a record of $18.50 for Walsh’s Village Pharmacy in Maroubra on November 6, 2018.
In her statement to police, Phoebe Burgess wrote: “Andrew McDonald administered small amounts of liquid diazepam AMP (10mg) via injections into Sam’s bicep, to slowly bring his pulse and heart rate down — if this was done too quickly, it could have been fatal. If this had not been done at all, it could also have been fatal.”
‘He’s out of control’
Crowe and another senior Souths official were made aware of Burgess’s multi-day benders and alleged drug use in the months before he was promoted to captain in April 2019.
Sam Burgess went on a two-day partying spree after his team lost the crucial preliminary final against the Roosters on September 22, 2018.
After the defeat, Burgess hit that Mad Monday hard and didn’t come home for two days, despite his wife’s pleas.On September 23, Phoebe was admitted to North Shore Private Hospital, 28 weeks pregnant.
“Phoebe was paralysed. She wasn’t eating or drinking and the baby stopped moving,” a close friend said.
She was prescribed an anti-anxiety medication safe for pregnancy. A close family member of Phoebe’s managed to get in contact with Burgess, told him his wife was in hospital and to sober up.
But Burgess allegedly refused, saying: “F … off. You can’t tell me what to do.”
Two days after the game, on 9.55pm on September 24, Phoebe Burgess texted Crowe asking if he was concerned about Burgess, in a text exchange provided to NSW Police in relation to Burgess’s pattern of behaviour.
“Are you concerned about him? Last I knew he was out partying with his teammates,” she wrote.
Crowe replied: “I haven’t heard from him since the game.”
Phoebe Burgess texted back: “He didn’t come home after the game, he called me immediately after the game in an emotional state, we were fine. Then went out with the boys without seeing us first. Then I was admitted to hospital and he sent me a message this morning but I was in ultrasound with baby. And he has just gone off the grid. I’m worried.”
Crowe was then told again about Burgess’s partying and use of drugs in another message from Phoebe Burgess two months later, on November 26, 2018.
“He is now being led by his elder brother on a trail of booze, heavy drugs and girls on social media,” Phoebe texted.
“He might need a good friend, bc he is just not our Sam. And definitely not the beautiful man I married for life.”
On November 26, Burgess hit the roof, saying “I’ve seen what you wrote to RC”. Burgess admonished Phoebe and complained that the “club” now thought he was a “drug addict”, and texted her at 7.35am: “What are you trying to solve here? Such lies.”
Drug-fuelled bender
As the Burgess family tried to recover from the sexting scandal, and Burgess’s private revelation he’d been having an affair, they eagerly awaited the birth of their second child.
On November 4, 2018, Sam and Phoebe Burgess attended a farewell barbecue at Randwick Golf Club for departing Souths player Jason Clark.
Phoebe Burgess left the party in the afternoon and says in her statement Sam Burgess promised to be home at 7.30pm with dinner. But after briefly returning home at midnight, left again. An Uber receipt from 1.03am on November 5 records him heading out.
Burgess called at 7am and admitted he had been using cocaine, according to the statement Phoebe Burgess provided to NSW Police.
“He sounded high to me. I asked him if he had done drugs. He admitted to using cocaine,” she said in the statement.
Burgess did not return home the entire day of November 5, as he continued partying with his brother Luke and others.
After a trip to Baby Bunting on her own, Phoebe Burgess grew increasingly anxious as the day unfolded and she had not heard from her husband, with his phone turned off.
Meanwhile, Luke Burgess’s ex-partner, Yolanda Hodgson, was also desperately trying to reach Luke. Ms Hodgson had been trying to call Luke Burgess since 9am, ringing about “100 times”, according to text messages obtained by The Australian.
With Ms Hodgson and Phoebe Burgess becoming increasingly panicked, both spoke to Sam’s mother Julie Burgess, who set out at 7.30pm to try to find her sons.
Text messages from the night, along with detailed accounts of what unfolded, have been provided to NSW Police as part of the upcoming AVO proceedings involving Sam Burgess and Mitch Hooke, and obtained by The Australian.
“Give me an hour,” Julie Burgess texted, “Am starting at Chifley.”
Julie Burgess managed to track down the brothers at Justin Hemmes’ swanky bar, The Establishment, in the city.
Phoebe Burgess’ statement to police alleges when Julie Burgess dropped the brothers at Sam and Phoebe’s family home, both Sam and Luke were abusive and angry.
Phoebe Burgess claims Luke started shouting at Phoebe it was not her “f…king house” and ordered her to “sit down”.
In the morning, when the pair had continued partying overnight and with yelling coming from the basement, Julie Burgess called in sick from work to try and look after her sons. It was clear they had not slept, according to Phoebe Burgess’s statement to police.
Sam was red-eyed and looked scared and confused.
According to the statement to police, Luke followed Phoebe, who had Poppy on her hip, up the stairs yelling at her: “You’re a weak c… Sam needs a strong partner. A strong woman. You’re weak. A weak c….” This isn’t your house, you f… piece of shit, you f… [This word has been automatically removed].”
He started moving towards Phoebe Burgess, pointing his finger and screaming.
Julie stepped in physically between Mrs Burgess and Luke, shocked, and sent Phoebe upstairs with Poppy and put Luke in a cab to go home.
In her statement to police, Phoebe Burgess described her husband’s state. She said Sam was shirtless, his veins popping out of his arms, he was overheating, his skin was burning hot and his eyes dark.
“He looked wild like a caged animal, he was out of his tree and scared. His eyes at this point were scared, not aggressive, they kept darting between Julie and I,” she wrote.
As the day progressed, Burgess allegedly grabbed hold of his daughter, Poppy, and refused to give her back to Phoebe or Julie.
The statement to Police alleges Burgess’ condition escalated, with Sam starting to scream and bang on the windows. Phoebe Burgess locked herself in her bedroom with her child and called fellow player, Jason Clark. “Please come and help me, I’m so scared,” Phoebe said on the phone, according to her statement to police.
Clark, who had just woken up, said he would stay on the phone while he came over, talking to her while he put his shoes on, got his keys, spoke to his wife and drove over, even describing the streets he was passing.
When Clark arrived, he and Julie took Sam back into the basement to reduce the risk of neighbours hearing the commotion.
Sam was running around, repeatedly yelling, “Where’s Biffa (Luke)? Get Biffa in the house.” One person present took a short video recording of this, which has been seen by The Australian.
Rabbitohs chief medical officer Andrew McDonald was called over to help. He also recommended calling in a psychiatric nurse, Jan Earl, who had experience with situations like this.
“Doc” Andrew McDonald promised Phoebe that if he felt Burgess’ condition was seriously deteriorating, he would take her husband to hospital, prioritising his health above his career.
“I looked Andrew McDonald in the eye and asked him to swear to me that he would tell me when it was time for me to call an ambulance and let the paramedics do their jobs. He nodded slowly and thoughtfully,” Phoebe Burgess said in her statement to police.
The statement also includes the allegation that Sam Burgess told Phoebe he had taken MDMA but later admitted to Earl he had taken six pills at once.
What unfolded was a cycle of screaming and incoherence, with episodes of violence, tears and aggression.
Prescription drugs
Witnessing much of the episode were Phoebe’s parents, Mitch and Sarah Hooke.
Mr Hooke, the former chief executive of the Minerals Council, has built a reputation over four decades as a tough negotiator.
Mr Hooke, 64, has not given a media interview since his retirement in 2013, but when asked about the events that unfolded on November 6 and 7, 2018, decided to answer questions, saying he was not prepared to be part of any cover-up.His voice quivered while describing the episode.
“We walked into a household that was in absolute turmoil,” Mr Hooke said.
“Phoebe was doing her best to guard Poppy upstairs. Sam was absolutely going bananas downstairs. There was yelling and screaming, there were other people there. People were trying to console him.”
Mr Hooke said his son-in-law’s behaviour was “beyond recognition”. “I could hear him when I arrived screaming and he was almost incoherent,” he said.
“He was loud and aggressive and just like nothing I’d ever seen or heard in anybody, and clearly a very, very different persona to anything that we had known in Phoebe’s time with him.”
Mr Hooke said Dr McDonald approached him on the stairwell to speak about Burgess’s condition.
“When the doctor came halfway up the stairs, I said: ‘You have to put this guy in hospital’,” Mr Hooke recalled.
“And he said: ‘Well he can’t go into a private hospital, he has to go to a public hospital.’ He said words to the effect: ‘If this gets out in the public arena this will impact his career or earning capacity.’
“I said: ‘I don’t give a f…k about that, I’m worried about his health.”
According to Mr Hooke, Dr McDonald then started writing out a script. He handed it to Mr Hooke. “I looked at it and I said: ‘What’s the script for?’ He said: ‘Liquid valium.’ I said: ‘This is in my name.’
“He said: ‘Yep’.”
Mr Hooke said he questioned Dr McDonald, telling him this was not right.
“He’s basically putting me in the position where I was going off to get a script made out in my name for a drug he was going to administer Sam,” he said.
“I had no alternative. Even my faint knowledge of the law knows that that’s not right but I had a doctor telling me there’s no other way. He wouldn’t put the script in Sam’s name.”
Documents obtained by The Australian confirm the prescription was issued by Mr McDonald for Burgess in Mr Hooke’s name.
The pharmacy has a prescription record of Diazepam AMP 10mg, in a quantity of 5, being issued on 6th November, 2018 to Mr Hooke, prescribed by Dr Andrew McDonald, which The Australian has obtained.
Mr Hooke’s Visa credit card statement also has a record of $18.50 for Walsh’s Village Pharmacy in Maroubra on November 6, 2018.
In her statement to police, Phoebe Burgess wrote: “Andrew McDonald administered small amounts of liquid diazepam AMP (10mg) via injections into Sam’s bicep, to slowly bring his pulse and heart rate down — if this was done too quickly, it could have been fatal. If this had not been done at all, it could also have been fatal.”
‘He’s out of control’
The doctor could be deregistered for that
If true he should be
mike
Well-known member
You don’t think an article like that would have been approved by their lawyers first before publishing?
pawsandclaws1
Well-known member
To put it crudely, there will be a few clenched butt cheeks in Redfern. Poor Phoebe, I feel for her anguish.
Jess Hallorhan one of the reporters is James Hoopers partner - bet there has been some interesting discussions in that household of late given Sam's connection to Foxsports
When’s that ever stopped the papers before. Been so many defamation lawsuits in the last two years it’s ridiculous.
mike
Well-known member
I think a certain doctor could be in a lot of trouble.
What Is A Fraudulently Obtained Prescription?
A prescription which is only obtained because of false, incorrect or misleading information.
Examples include:
1) Making up fake symptoms and exaggerating illness to your doctor in order to obtain a prescription for a drug which you don’t need;
2) Sending your sister or someone else to the doctor to obtain a prescription in your name for her medical condition;
3) Presenting your doctor with fake, false or someone else’s test results in order to obtain a prescription.
What Is A Fraudulently Obtained Prescription?
A prescription which is only obtained because of false, incorrect or misleading information.
Examples include:
1) Making up fake symptoms and exaggerating illness to your doctor in order to obtain a prescription for a drug which you don’t need;
2) Sending your sister or someone else to the doctor to obtain a prescription in your name for her medical condition;
3) Presenting your doctor with fake, false or someone else’s test results in order to obtain a prescription.
pawsandclaws1
Well-known member
Worse than terrible.
happy_tiger
Well-known member
Obviously going to be an interesting few months with this story
Wonder why this story didn't break at the time ...there was heaps of conjecture at the time when he split with his wife and the AVO against the Father in Law
And the Dick Pic as well ....
Sam is basically a no one now .....Rusty and the Rabbits will be sprinting to get away from this story
Wonder why this story didn't break at the time ...there was heaps of conjecture at the time when he split with his wife and the AVO against the Father in Law
And the Dick Pic as well ....
Sam is basically a no one now .....Rusty and the Rabbits will be sprinting to get away from this story
D
Deleted member 3518
Guest
Yes I know was Gaslighting is . But to imply that cheating is abuse is massive stretch. The behaviours that can be associated for sure , CAN be. When you say things like “my partner abused me by cheating on me” , you start to build a picture that your some kind of victim , when in reality , your Just someone your partner didn’t care about enough to stay faithful , or , the person is zero idea how to be in a committed relationship. You’re not abused. You’re just clearly low on your partner’s priorities. It’s a bit dramatic and Slightly narcissistic to imply that it’s abuse. When in reality , for most people , it’s just flat out denying and aloofness . This obviously doesn’t apply to gaslighting , controlling abusive behaviours.
We need to chill with stuff like this as a society . Were all turning into soft drama queens, looking for our own little slice of victimisation. The partner is a dirtbag . The end. Leave them , or don’t . If you allow it to go on . Then Look in the mirror .
