Former Miss Australia Kathryn Isobel Hay Found Guilty Of Emotional Abuse & Intimidation Of Ex-Husband

On March 5, former Miss Australia, Kathryn Isobel Hay was found guilty of emotional abuse or intimidation towards her ex-husband.

Hay, 49, who was Miss Australia and Miss Tasmania in 1999, was found guilty of emotionally abusing Troy Shane Richardson, her former partner between January 2014 and November 2022. The two were romantically involved since 2010 and share two children together. 

A court in Tasmania ruled Hay guilty on Wednesday, with the “majority of the particulars on the charge proven.”

In 2023, Hay had pleaded guilty to a single charge of emotional abuse and intimidation from 2014 to 2022. She denied any physical abuse, although she did confess that she had bad communication skills and used poor language as their relationship deteriorated.

Hay tried to reverse several of Richardson’s claims of verbal abuse, and further alleged that Richardson had mismanaged the couple’s finances. However, records quickly proved this claim to be false, as Hay purchased an expensive property for herself in northern Tasmania while the couple were together.

In 2024, Richardson told the hearing that Hay was verbally and physically abusive, having punched and hit regularly and threatened violence. He reported that their relationship, initially “all rosy,” took a turn in 2013 following the birth of their second child. 

He emphasized the broadness of Hay’s emotional torture: “She would often make a point of having an argument in public just to make me feel low.”

Richardson also alleged that Hay punched him in 2020, which resulted in a black eye, and hit him with a shoe multiple times. In 2021, Hay was taken into police custody when she allegedly slapped Richardson for making a sharp turn while driving. This resulted in a family violence order against her, but Richardson “later demanded he have the order revoked,” when “It was the defense case that the reverse was the case.” 

Hay is expected to be sentenced on April 17.