Scotland rugby player McLean avoids jail after conviction for domestic abuse

16 March 2023 , 14:24

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Rufus McLean was sacked by Glasgow Warriors in January

Scottish rugby player Rufus McLean has avoided a jail sentence after being convicted of abusing his girlfriend.

McLean, who earned three caps for Scotland in 2021, has been ordered to do 120 hours of community service after admitting to pushing, abusing, and tracking his then girlfriend Cara Haston during a two-year period. The 23-year-old was sacked by Glasgow Warriors in January after pleading guilty to engaging in "emotionally abusive and controlling" behaviour.

Despite Sheriff Matthew Auchincloss stating that McLean's offences meant the "threshold for a custodial sentence had been crossed", he decided community service was an appropriate alternative. "You may not have intended to cause harm, however due to the extended period of time... you should have known there was a risk of harm from your behaviour," he said when sentencing McLean at Edinburgh Sheriff Court on Thursday.

"This behaviour has caused significant harm to your former partner." McLean was also slapped with a non-harrassment order preventing him from contacting his former partner for ten years.

Auchincloss added: "As a young person you have greater capacity to change. I recognise the dynamics of your relationship may have been difficult. You have shown remorse and shame from your behaviour."

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The court heard in January how McLean controlled what clothes his partner could wear, who she was allowed to meet, wanted to know the passwords for all her social media accounts and insisted she had location tracking services enabled on her phone. He also admitted pushing her, calling her derogatory names and sending abusive messages.

Scotland rugby international Rufus McLean leaves Edinburgh Sheriff Court in January where he appeared on domestic abuse charges (Daily Record)

Following McLean's sentencing, Haston's family issued a statement which read: "We are relieved that this four-year ordeal has come to a conclusion and would like to thank Police Scotland and the procurator fiscal's office for their support and professionalism.

"Throughout this process we have maintained a dignified silence but have had to endure more pain and suffering than any family should. To be confronted by the knowledge that our daughter Cara has suffered serious abuse - under Section 1 of the Domestic Abuse Act - over such a prolonged period of time at the hands of the defendant is heart-breaking.

McLean was capped three times by Scotland in 2021 (Photo by NEIL HANNA/AFP via Getty Images)

"Cara's life has stood still, and so has that of our family. Unbelievably, Cara has had to endure continued verbal abuse from members of the rugby community.

"She is the victim, yet it seems that there still remain some young players who do not understand that when a defendant pleads guilty, it is an admission of wrongdoing. In the case of Rufus McLean, it means serious abuse of a woman, verbally or otherwise, is totally unacceptable and deserves an appropriate response."

Matthew Cooper