The Caged Bird

Mood: Yay for Justice

Huzzah! Just desserts for Bird and his appalling behaviour against his bird and his one time mate. And about time too.

Dumb git. White trash.

Greg Bird, the bad boy footballer, was today sentenced to 8 months’ jail time for seriously injuring his girlfriend Katie Milligan in August 2008. Bird reacted to an argument with Milligan by smashing a glass into her face, causing severe damage and permanent scarring to her eye.

For a quick recap of what I think of these two, please refer to my previous blog.

Throughout much of the past year, Milligan steadfastly stood by Bird, vowing to reconnect with him when the AVO lapsed and they were legally allowed to contact each other again. Reconnect they did, and after Bird’s player contract was revoked, he linked up with a club in France where the pair resided together until today.

All along, Milligan defended Bird, telling anyone who cared to listen that Bird is a gentle and loving man who would never intentionally hurt her. The scar above her left eye tells a different story. Anyone who picks up a glass and smashes it against another person’s face has every intention of hurting his/her victim. And no, I will never accept the excuses of "But I wasn’t thinking straight at the time" or "I was drunk and didn’t know what I was doing".

Oh, and to try and pin the blame on his mate who wasn’t anywhere near the scene of the crime is about lowest of low acts. Who would want to be Bird’s friend when Bird has proven he is callous and selfish in a failed attempt to save his own butt?

These two so deserve each other. A man who has a well documented history of being repeatedly violent towards women when drunk, and a woman who stands by her man even after he has permanently disfigured her face with a glass. It’s bad enough that he has this violent streak which has been on display time and time again, on and off the field, but for his victim to publicly support his atrocious and despicable behaviour just boggles my mind.

This bimbo could have been a great example to women everywhere by walking away from her thug boyfriend after he put her in hospital. But instead, she chose to stick with Bird over these past 10 months, and even went so far as to write him a character reference as part of his legal strategy to stay out of jail. That makes her a gutless vacuous idiot in my eyes.

I’d been following the progress of Bird’s court case with detached interest. Today, I celebrated a little with a happy dance when I read that he will spend time in jail for his actions.

I sincerely hope that Bird will learn something from his stint in jail – respect others, own up to his own actions, deal with the consequences of his actions, man up. At 25, he is still a kid in many respects, but really, it’s time to grow up and behave like one. Jail tolerates no fool.

GREG BIRD JAILED FOR 16 MONTHS
Harriet Alexander | June 22, 2009 – 2:39PM | SMH League HQ

Rugby league star Greg Bird will spend at least eight months in jail for hurting his girlfriend, Katie Milligan, with a broken glass.

Bird was immediately taken into custody at the Downing Local Court. He was visibly shaken and his supporters cried.

Magistrate Roger Clisdell sentenced Bird to a maximum of 16 months in prison and said that he did not believe Bird regretted the reckless wounding.

"In my view there in no contrition … The accused has maintained a position of not guilty throughout the proceedings and maintains that position today. I do not accept that … showing concern for Ms Milligan shows contrition in the light of his protestations of innocence," he said.

Mr Clisdell also fined Bird $5000 on the charge of false accusation.

"It was a despicable act and most un-Australian," he said.

Bird’s lawyer will apply for him to get bail this afternoon pending an appeal on the sentence.

Catalans, the Super League club, has previously said that they will stand by their captain and want him to extend his contract with the French club beyond this season.

Earlier, 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 court heard 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 called 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 live 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.

Mr Nicholls said Bird had been precluded from contacting Mr Watson since the incident, but he wished to apologise to him through the court.

"It was never his intention that any detriment be suffered by Mr Watson,” Mr Nicholls said.

"He has not been in a position to offer his personal apology. He’s asked me to do so today and to ask your Honour to take that into consideration for this offence."

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.

Click here to see the whole sorry saga about the low life and his bimbo.