Former Miss Australia Kathryn Hay weeps in court after sentence for emotional abuse

Kathryn Hay was once a respected Labor MP, now the former Miss Australia’s ‘reputation is in tatters’. She wept in court during sentencing for the emotional abuse of her former husband.

Kathryn Hay (left) leaves the Launceston Magistrates Court with her defence lawyer Marcia Edwards after sentencing for emotional abuse and intimidation of her former partner. Picture: Nick Clark

A former Miss Australia and Bacon Government member found guilty of emotional abuse and intimidation of her husband between 2014 and 2022 was spared a jail term when sentenced on Friday.

Kathryn Isobel Hay, 49, wept during parts of a sentencing hearing when her barrister described her fall from grace.

Hay was Miss Tasmania and Miss Australia in 1999 before becoming the first person of Aboriginal descent to be elected to the Tasmanian parliament in 2002.

She was the parliamentary secretary to Labor Premier Jim Bacon but retired from parliament in 2006.

Barrister Marcia Edwards said Hay was living in a homeless shelter in Sydney and undergoing a number of rehabilitative programs.

Former MP Kathryn Hay pictured leaving court with defence lawyer Dermot Connors on Friday, July 19. Picture: Stephanie Dalton

“She fled Tasmania as a result of she has done down here,” she said.

“She is living in a women’s refuge in Sydney in a very small room and has no money.”

Ms Edwards said the reputational damage to Hay would be everlasting because of media coverage of her trial.

The court heard that Hay no longer had any role in the raising of her two sons.

Tasmania Police principal Legal Officer Garth Stevens said in his submission that a psychologist’s report seemed to indicate that Hay had not accepted Magistrate Simon Brown’s findings in the case.

“There is arguably a lack of understanding and a lack of insight,” he said.

“Without insight there can be no rehabilitation.’

The court heard that Hay’s upbringing was marked by home life of family violence and alcohol abuse.

Mr Stevens read a victim impact statement by her former husband Troy Richardson in which he said the “emotional, verbal and physical abuse affected him to this day”.

He said he had been diagnosed with PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder) and severe anxiety.

Magistrate Brown said that he had seriously weighed whether a sentence of actual imprisonment was warranted.

He said he accepted that Hay suffered a major depressive disorder and complex PTSD as a result of her childhood but said there was no causal link to the offending.

“She [Hay] has effectively lost any parenting role,” he said prompting anguish and tears from the defendant.

“She is no longer able to pursue business or employment that she has hitherto been involved in.”

Kathryn Hay with her defence lawyers Marcia Edwards and Dermot Connors leaving the Launceston Magistrates Court. Picture: Stephanie Dalton

Mr Brown said that she was a high-profile defendant having been Miss Australia and a member of parliament.

“There has been a degree of extra curial punishment and note the defendant has left Tasmania with her reputation in tatters,” he said.

He said it was serious example of the offence of family violence particularly given the length of time over which it occurred.

“The complainant’s life must have been extraordinarily difficult,” he said.

Mr Brown said he did believe that Hay had a genuine insight into the extent of her wrongdoing.

“I accept the conduct is worthy of a term of imprisonment, it was serious and it was prolonged,” he said.

“However, I have formed the view that a suspended term of imprisonment is appropriate.

He sentenced her to seven months jail wholly suspended for two years and six months on the condition she commit no imprisonable offence.

Hay showed no emotion as the sentence was announced merely staring down at her clasped hands.

Hay was found guilty in March after several long and at times emotional days of hearing over two years.

The case revolved around the credibility of the complainant and Hay. It not only included evidence of abuse but also financial aspects of a significant dog breeding business the couple ran during their marriage.

The trial heard evidence of Hay throwing a bowl of cereal at Mr Richardson, making a throat slitting gesture towards him, accusing him of cheating, telling him she wished she had never met him and that she wished she could die because he was mistreating her.

It was also alleged that she punched and slapped him while he was driving.

Mr Brown in his decision said he found Hay to be a dishonest and unreliable witness.

“I formed a very poor impression of the defendant as a witness and presentation in the witness box,” he said.

He described much of her evidence as far-fetched and fanciful.

“I formed the view that much of her distress was manufactured,” Mr Brown said.

He said that Mr Richardson’s evidence was given more in sadness than in anger.

Originally published as Former Miss Australia Kathryn Hay weeps in court after sentence for emotional abuse