Kathryn Isobel Hay, a former Miss Australia, has been convicted of emotionally abusing and intimidating her ex-husband.
Videos by Suggest
Kathryn Isobel Hay, 49, who held the titles of Miss Australia and Miss Tasmania in 1999, was found guilty of emotional abuse and intimidation by the Launceston Magistrates Court in Tasmania on Wednesday, March 5, per the Australian Associated Press (AAP).
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) reports that Kathryn Hay initially pleaded not guilty to a single charge of emotional abuse or intimidation in 2023. However, the case proceeded to a hearing the following year.
Alert – Former Labor MP Kathryn Isobel Hay accused of emotionally abusing and intimidating her former husband over eight years https://t.co/ojep49p4Zs pic.twitter.com/jMNq0YMAxl
— Alert Content (@thealertcontent) May 28, 2024
According to ABC, she has been accused of emotionally abusing her former partner, Troy Shane Richardson, over an alleged period spanning from January 2014 to November 2022. The outlet also reported that the couple were together from 2010 to 2022 and have two children.
On March 5, the court ruled that Australian Labor politician and former Tasmanian House of Assembly member, Hay, was found guilty. According to 9 News, “the majority of the particulars on the charge” were proven.
Victim Details Alleged Abuse at the Hands of Former Pageant Queen Kathryn Isobel Hay
In a 2024 hearing, Richardson stated that his former partner had been verbally abusive during their relationship. He also accused her of threatening him with violence, punching him, and hitting him multiple times with a shoe. Additionally, Hay allegedly threw a bowl of cereal at him and frequently targeted him with online abuse. Hay, however, claimed that she was the one who had been abused.
Richardson met Hay at a dog show in 2009. They married in 2012, but their relationship started to decline in 2013 after their second child was born.
“She would often make a point of having an argument in public just to make me feel low,” he told the AAP. He also claimed that Hay decked him in 2020, leaving him with a bruised eye.
The following year, Hay was taken into police custody after allegedly slapping her partner for “driving around a corner too fast,” according to the AAP. A family violence order was issued against her.
“It was the prosecutors’ case that the defendant controlled and abused the complainant,” Magistrate Simon Brown told the court, per the ABC. “It was the defense case that the reverse was the case,” Brown added.
Hay denied any allegations of physical abuse but acknowledged that harsh language may have been used at times as the relationship grew increasingly toxic, according to the AAP.
Hay has been released on bail and is scheduled to be sentenced on April 17.
If you or someone you know is a victim of domestic violence, you can reach the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 800-799-7233. You can also chat with a representative at thehotline.org​ or by texting “START” to 88788.