Former Miss Australia Found Guilty of Emotionally Abusing and Intimidating Her Ex-Husband: Reports

• A former Miss Australia has been found guilty of emotionally abusing her ex-husband, a court in Tasmania has heard
• Kathryn Isobel Hay, 49, is accused of threatening Troy Shane Richardson with violence, punching him and hitting him several times with a shoe, per reports
• The former couple were together from 2010 until 2022 and share two children together, according to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC)

A former Miss Australia has been found guilty in court of emotionally abusing and intimidating her ex-husband.

On Wednesday, March 5, Kathryn Isobel Hay, 49 — who was Miss Australia and Miss Tasmania in 1999 — was found guilty of emotional abuse or intimidation at the Launceston Magistrates Court in Tasmania, per the Australian Associated Press (AAP).

According to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), Hay pleaded not guilty to a single charge of emotional abuse or intimidation in 2023 before she faced a hearing last year.

She's accused of emotionally abusing her former partner, Troy Shane Richardson, during a time frame that allegedly took place between January 2014 and November 2022, per the ABC. The outlet stated the former couple were together from 2010 until 2022 and share two children.

The court heard on March 5 that Australian Labor politician Hay — who is a former Member of the Tasmanian House of Assembly — was found guilty, with the "majority of the particulars on the charge proven," per 9 News.

Richardson had told the hearing in 2024 that his former partner had been verbally abusive when they were together, as well as accusing her of threatening him with violence, punching him and hitting him several times with a shoe, per the AAP.

The ABC added that Hay also threw a bowl of cereal at him, as well as frequently abusing him online. The outlet reported that Hay had claimed that she was the victim of abuse.

Richardson, who said he met Hay at a dog show in 2009 before they tied the knot in 2012, previously told the court their relationship had deteriorated around 2013 after their second child was born, the AAP reported.

"She would often make a point of having an argument in public just to make me feel low," he said of the alleged abuse, per the outlet, claiming that the suspect punched him in 2020, stating he was left with a black eye.

The following year, Hay was then taken into police custody after being accused of slapping her then-partner for "driving around a corner too fast," per the AAP. A family violence order was placed against her, but the victim claimed the suspect had "later demanded he have the order revoked."

Magistrate Simon Brown told the court on Wednesday, "It was the prosecutors' case that the defendant controlled and abused the complainant," per the ABC.

"It was the defense case that the reverse was the case," Brown added, according to the outlet.

Hay — a Labor member for the northern Tasmanian seat of Bass between 2002 and 2006 — reportedly claimed the couple's finances were "entirely controlled" by her former partner, the publication stated. However, Brown claimed this likely wasn't the case as the ABC added that she'd allegedly purchased a property at Norwood in northern Tasmania.

"The evidence here proves that it was the defendant [Hay] who was the prime mover … she paid a handsome, somewhat overly inflated price [for the property]. The property was registered in her name and her name only," Brown said, per the outlet.

Brown continued, "Generally, I found her [Hay] to be a dishonest and unreliable witness," the ABC reported.

"She, over a period of years and years, caused the complainant distress," Brown said. "If the defendant had stopped to think, she ought to have known that her conduct would have caused her husband to be intimidated."

Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Sign up for PEOPLE's free True Crime newsletter for breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases.          

The suspect denied physical abuse but did admit that bad language might have been used occasionally as the relationship became toxic, per the AAP.

Hay has been bailed and is expected to be sentenced on April 17, the outlet reported.

The Launceston Magistrates Court didn't immediately respond when contacted by PEOPLE for additional information.

If you are experiencing domestic violence, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233, or go to thehotline.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.