Bird's lover in plea for leniency
Harriet Alexander | June 22, 2009 - 11:39AM
Greg Bird's girlfriend has written him a character reference to persuade a court to give him a lenient sentence for recklessly wounding her in an incident at his Cronulla apartment last August.
But his friend Brent Watson, who the former Sharks player originally told police was responsible for the cuts to Katie Milligan's face and eye, has described him as "selfish", the Downing Local Court heard today.
Bird will be sentenced for reckless wounding and false accusation after 2pm today.
He has been found guilty of hurting Ms Milligan with a broken glass at his Cronulla apartment in August last year.
They had been arguing after she returned late from a night out.
The prosecution is calling for him to serve time in jail.
But Bird's lawyer, Les Nicholls, told the court that he had not hurt Ms Milligan intentionally and had not caused her lasting damage or disfigurement.
The pair now lived together in France.
"I would ask your honour to accept the reference from the victim that at no time has Greg Bird ever intended ... to hurt her and it was out of character," Mr Nicholls said.
A good behaviour bond or community service order would be more appropriate, he said.
But the police prosecutor, Peter Stanhope, said Bird had not shown any concern for Mr Watson, whose reputation he was prepared to damage in an attempt to avoid police charges and the media attention they would bring.
Mr Watson had described Bird as "a selfish person whose only concern was his football career and the Sharks", Mr Stanhope said.
The magistrate, Roger Clisdell, has reserved his decision on the sentence to this afternoon.
Bird was found guilty of reckless wounding and false accusation in April by the same magistrate, who said he had lied about how his girlfriend had turned up at hospital bleeding from her eye.
He pleaded guilty to public mischief.
http://www.smh.com.au/leaguehq/articles/2009/06/22/1245522769014.html
