Bird bailed pending appeal

Former NRL star Greg Bird has been granted bail pending his appeal against his eight month jail term for glassing his American girlfriend.

In Sydney's Downing Centre Local Court, Magistrate Roger Clisdell sentenced Bird to a minimum of eight months in prison for the attack on Ms Milligan.

"It was a despicable act and most un-Australian," he said in his sentencing remarks.

The former Cronulla Sharks player, who now plays in France, was in April found guilty of one count of reckless wounding and one count of making a false accusation to police over his attack on Katie Milligan.

Ms Milligan, who suffered a fractured eye socket and cuts to her eye at the former rugby league international's Cronulla apartment last August, is still in a relationship with Bird and is living with him in the south of France.

She refused to make a formal statement to police and both she and her parents provided Bird with character references.

Bird's supporters burst into tears and shook their heads in disbelief as Mr Clisdell handed down a maximum jail term of 16 months.

The footballer was also fined $A5000 for the charge of making a false accusation and placed on a three-year good behaviour bond.

Bird's lawyer Leslie Nicholls immediately lodged an appeal against the sentence, and sought bail for his client, which Mr Clisdell granted.

In sentencing submissions, Bird's lawyer Leslie Nicholls had asked the magistrate to take note of the fact Ms Milligan had never complained to police about the incident.

However, Mr Clisdell said this was not unusual in cases of domestic violence.

Mr Nicholls also read out an apology from Bird to his former friend and flatmate Brent Watson, whom he had originally blamed for the attack on Ms Milligan.

But police prosecutor Peter Stanhope said Bird had shown no remorse for involving Mr Watson, whose reputation he was prepared to sacrifice to escape the media spotlight.

Mr Watson had described Bird as "a selfish person whose only concern was his football career and the Sharks", Mr Stanhope said.

The magistrate said the character references provided on Bird's behalf spoke "of a person at odds with offences of this nature".

He added that Bird had "sustained public destruction of his reputation".

But he said domestic violence was a crime that necessitated a "very strong element of general deterrence" in sentencing.

Bird is launching an immediate appeal against the sentence and applying for bail.

- AAP