A court has been informed that the spouse of a former politician and Miss Australia was subjected to verbal abuse, punching, weekly threats of violence, and shoe strikes.
48-year-old Kathryn Isobel Hay entered a not guilty plea to charges of intimidating or abusing her ex-partner Troy Shane Richardson emotionally between January 2014 and November 2022.
In addition, according to Richardson, Hay forced him to send an email to her siblings declaring that “everything was his fault” and pushed him to request the revocation of a family violence order against her.
In 1999, Hay won the titles of Miss Tasmania and Miss Australia.
She was a Labour member of the Tasmanian parliament from 2002 until 2006.
She made an appearance in Launceston Magistrates Court today to begin a hearing that will likely go for a few days.
According to Richardson, the couple was married in 2012 after meeting at a dog show in 2009.
They were “all rosy” when it came to their relationship, but he added that with the birth of his second kid in 2013, things started to go south.
He said Hay “just didn’t do something right” when he repeatedly struck him in the face with a sneaker while he was driving during a 2014 vacation in Melbourne.
He added that on the return flight to Tasmania, she had thrown a bowl of cereal at him and branded him miserable and useless.
Richardson said in court that Hay would give him lists of things that needed to be done and that he would receive threats of violence at least once a week.
If it was not done correctly, I would receive abuse.
She would give me another list if it was finished,” he remarked. “She would often make a point of having an argument in public just to make me feel low.”
Richardson claimed that after Hay punched him in 2020, he was left with a black eye.
A domestic violence order against Hay was issued in December 2021 after she was allegedly seen slapping Richardson for turning a bend too quickly.
Richardson stated Later, after spending 79 minutes on the phone with him and giving him instructions on what to write, Hay urged that the order be revoked.
Hay purportedly accused Richardson of having an extramarital affair with an unidentified lady. In addition, she claimed that he had bugged her car and hacked her computer and phone.
Police met with Richardson, but he was never charged, he claimed. He claimed to have been “broken and depressed” by the claims.
Dermot Connors, Hay’s attorney, cross-examined Richardson, and Richardson admitted the marriage ended in bitterness.
He denied having access to Hay’s Facebook account, controlling the couple’s finances, and sending himself messages.
Richardson refuted claims that Hay’s money for his care were taken against her consent by inventing a serious depression.
