League star guilty of assaulting girlfriend

Former NRL star Greg Bird has been found guilty of assaulting his girlfriend and of making a false accusation to police.

The verdicts were handled down this afternoon in Sydney's Downing Centre Local Court after magistrate Roger Clisdell ruled earlier there was a case to answer.

The 24-year-old footballer, who now plays in France, had denied hitting Katie Milligan in the face with a glass.

He had also pleaded not guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm and to recklessly wounding Ms Milligan at his Cronulla apartment in Sydney's south in August 2008.

Police had alleged Bird attempted to deceive them when he claimed his flatmate Brent Watson was responsible for his girlfriend's injuries. Bird admitted a public mischief offence but pleaded not guilty to making a false accusation to police.

Mr Clisdell said Bird and Ms Milligan had told a series of conflicting stories, including that she had tripped on a coffee table, that Mr Watson had thrown a glass at her and that it was an accident.

"Why did Ms Milligan and Mr Bird continue with this tale of lies if there was an innocent and easily accepted explanation?" he asked.

Mr Clisdell said Bird had clearly intended that police investigate his friend over the offence and deliberately made a false accusation.

"It would have been very easy for Mr Bird to have called off the witness inquiry," Mr Clisdell said.

"He could have said, 'Look, it was an accident.'

"He didn't. He was prepared to make his shorts available for forensic examination.

"He was caught in a lie he couldn't retract."

Bird will be sentenced on June 22.

The AVO police took out on Ms Milligan's behalf has been varied today to allow Bird to contact her.

But the order has been extended another 12 months, which means Bird cannot intimidate or menace Ms Milligan.

Bird comforted his family after the verdict, patting on the leg a female supporter who was dabbing her eye with a tissue.

DIFFERENT STORIES

The court heard earlier that there was no evidence to prove that Bird inflicted upon his girlfriend the lacerations that were on her face when she was admitted to hospital in last August.

But the former Cronulla Sharks footballer and Ms Milligan told police, medical staff and their friends a series of different stories from the moment she was injured and throughout the police investigation, the court was told.

First he said she fell, then that he fell and finally that his friend had assaulted her.

Peter Stanhope, acting for the Director of Public Prosecutions, said CCTV footage taken from outside the couple's apartment showed Bird returning home shortly before 3am on day of the alleged assault.

The next person to open the door was Mr Watson, who was leaving the unit for a golf tournament about 6.40am.

An hour later Ms Milligan arrived home from her night out.

Neighbours then heard raised voices inside the aparment, including a man shouting: "Stop being a f---ing idiot." And then they heard the couple leave, with Ms Milligan saying to Bird: "Why did you do this to me?"

"I didn't," he replied.

Ms Milligan: "Yes you did."

When they arrived at hospital, said Mr Stanhope, Bird told a nurse Ms Milligan had tripped over a coffee table.

Out of his earshot, Ms Milligan corrected that story, saying: "My flatmate put the glass in my eye. I don't know why he's lying."

But the court heard that within hours, the story had changed again.

Ms Milligan told police she had been out with Mr Watson, but they became involved in an argument because she called his girlfriend fat.

After they got home he picked up a glass and threw it, possibly aiming for the mirror but landing it on her face.

He had immediately apologised, she allegedly said, and she did not wish to press charges.

Bird supported her story, telling police he had woken to loud voices and entered the room to see blood on his girlfriend's face.

While they were busy blaming Mr Watson for the injuries, the court heard, behind the scenes they were frantically contacting him.

Mr Watson was later to tell police how was on the golf course when Bird rang him.

"Something has happened to Katie," Bird allegedly said.

"It was an accident. There was blood all over the unit. I told police it was you. How do you feel about that?"

Later he sent Mr Watson text messages instructing him not to answer calls or say anything and they would talk through it that night.

It had been Ms Milligan's idea to involve him, Bird allegedly said.

But Bird's barrister, John Dailly, SC, said Bird had not intended to lie when he went to the hospital. But he had done so to support his girlfriend's version of events.

The Crown had no evidence to prove that Bird had assaulted her on purpose, by accident, or at all, he said.

If he had done so, the Crown did not even know how he had caused the lacerations.

The most likely scenario - given that she had been drinking and he had denied having hurt her, even in conversations when he had not known the neighbours were listening - was that it was an accident, he said.

There was no DNA on the broken glass later found in the bedroom and no fingerprints, he said.

Ms Milligan did not give police a sworn statement and was last heard of flying to Spain.

- AAP and Harriet Alexander