Stuart Hogg ‘set to be stripped’ of MBE after domestic abuse conviction
GOVERNMENT officials are set to strip Stuart Hogg of his MBE, an senior MP has claimed.
The disgraced former Scotland captain dodged jail last month over a shocking domestic abuse campaign against his wife Gillian, 38.
He admitted a charge of acting in an abusive manner and bombarding Gillian Hogg with hundreds of text messages.
Since then there have been calls for him to be stripped of the honour.
Hogg was handed the MBE in the 2024 New Year Honours for services to rugby.
The SNP’s Westminster leader Stephen Flynn said the Honours Secretariat is “firmly on the case”.
He said: “It was important that this issue was raised at the highest level possible, and I’m glad that the Honours Secretariat is firmly on the case and I look forward to a timely decision being taken.
“I’ve raised this matter in the Commons and directly with the honours authorities and, whilst I appreciate they have processes to undertake, it’s clear to everyone that the forfeiture committee must live up to their name and remove Stuart Hogg‘s honour.
“There are simply no circumstances in which we should celebrate an individual found guilty of domestic abuse and I hope a decision is reached imminently.”
There had been calls for the abuser to have the honour removed after his conviction.
First Minister John Swinney backed Flynn’s calls for Hogg to lose his gong.
He said last month: “That’s a reasonable and understandable call Stephen Flynn made.”
It was also backed by domestic abuse survivor Carolyn Quinn, who added: “I don’t think anyone with a criminal conviction for domestic abuse should have that accolade. He should be stripped of it.”
And domestic abuse expert Dr Mairead Tagg added: “Why are we honouring people who hurt women?
“We can’t elevate people who behave in a criminal and disreputable manner.”
Hogg was handed a 12-month community supervision for his shocking abuse campaign against mum-of-four Gillian.
Disgraced Hogg was previously fined £600 plus handed a £40 victim surcharge and told not to approach Gillian for five years over a bail breach.
'It's no punishment at all'
GILLIAN Hogg blasted the sentence handed to her abuser after he dodged a jail term for the years of torment he caused her.
She told The Scottish Sun:
“I feel like Stuart’s had absolutely no punishment. My first thought was, is that it? It’s not enough.
“No sentence will ever be enough for all of the abuse, heartache and pain he put me through for years. It feels like that hasn’t been acknowledged.
“I’m very happy with the fact that I never need to deal with him, have nothing to do with him for five years.
“That is a massive relief and I’m just looking forward to moving on in my own life.”
Gillian also blasted a sheriff for saying there was “no point interrupting” her abuser’s career.
She added: “His career should never have been brought up.”
Hogg’s campaign of abuse
He pleaded guilty to a single charge of domestic abuse spanning five years until August 2024.
The court previously heard how he berated Gillian for “not being fun” after opting out of drinking binges with him and pals.
Prosecutor Drew Long said Hogg’s “behaviour deteriorated” as he went out partying after the family moved to England when he joined Exeter Chiefs in 2019. He said that her family “noticed a change in her”.
Three years later while on a night out she was flooded with messages from the shamed star which “caught the attention of the people she was with”, the court heard.
Hogg used an app to track his wife and “questioned her whereabouts” while she was dropping the children off after they moved to Hawick, Roxburghshire, in 2023.
Gillian decided to leave the dad of her four kids and sought advice from a domestic abuse service.
She suffered a panic attack that September after he “sent in excess of 200 texts in a few hours despite being asked to leave her alone”.
Cops were called due to the family home last February due to the disgraced ex-Glasgow Warriors full-back “shouting and swearing”. He was bailed but ordered not to contact Gillian or enter her pad.
The SNP has been approached for comment.