Former Maitland and Newcastle Knights junior rugby league player Greg Bird has walked free after a judge quashed his conviction for cutting his girlfriend's face with a glass.
The former Cronulla Shark player's girlfriend, Katie Milligan, suffered a broken eye socket and cuts to her eye during an altercation at Bird's flat in August last year.
Judge Michael Finnane believed the evidence of Bird and Milligan that her injury was an accident, caused when an "agitated" and "irrational" Milligan lunged at him with a glass in her hand.
Bird was sentenced in June to at least eight months' jail time, with a maximum of 16 months, after being found guilty of reckless wounding.
Bird, who now plays for the Catalan Dragons in the English Super League, has been on bail after lodging an appeal following the guilty verdict.
Bird and his girlfriend then claimed it was all an accident, blaming Milligan's drug use and aggression, and saying she started the fight.
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