Farmer Wants a Wife reality TV star Sam Messina guilty of punching, throwing ex

A “controlling and abusive” reality TV star has been found guilty of assaulting his then-girlfriend multiple times including punching her in the nose, causing it to bleed for a month.

Sam Messina, who featured on the 2020 edition of Farmer Wants a Wife, was found guilty of domestic violence offences.

A disgraced reality TV star who left his former lover feeling “ashamed and isolated” has been found guilty of a string of domestic violence offences after a two-day hearing in the Illawarra.

Samuel Christopher Messina, who appeared on the hit TV dating show Farmer Wants a Wife in 2020, fronted court on Tuesday to hear Magistrate Michael Ong hand down guilty verdicts to three counts of assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

The disturbing attacks occurred at their residence in Orange a year before Messina appeared on the reality TV series.

The court previously heard a shocking account of the now 27-year-old punched his ex-girlfriend in the nose, which caused her to bleed every time she sneezed for the next month.

The first assault occurred in March 2019, when the pair were arguing from either side of their bedroom door before Messina pushed the door onto the woman’s foot, causing pain in two of her toes.

Sam Messina running into Port Kembla Local Court on Tuesday. Picture: Dylan Arvela

He punched her in the nose in July, the same month Messina grabbed hold of his then-girlfriend by the clothes before throwing her to the floor and leaving her with scratches on her chest.

Messina was accused of a fourth assault involving whipping the woman with a phone charger after she woke him up for an appointment.

However, Magistrate Ong said this allegation could not be proved beyond a reasonable doubt, given the victim’s work timesheets indicated she was at work at the time.

The court had heard the pair’s relationship could be characterised as “controlling and abusive”, however, Messina denies he ever assaulted his ex.

Sam Messina shocked viewers when he sent both Mackenzie Phillips and, left and Allanah Taranto, right, home on Farmer Wants a Wife. Picture: Supplied.

While he pleaded not guilty to the four counts of assault at Port Kembla Local Court, he did enter a guilty plea to two counts of intimidation stemming back to when he showed up at the victim’s mother’s home and threatened to kill her pet rabbits.

The court previously heard she continued to live at the home she shared with Messina and another person for a couple of months after they broke up before moving back to her mother’s house in the Illawarra.

During two days of evidence, the woman recounted a relationship of “control”, with the court hearing evidence that she only worked up the courage to report the allegations after the threats were made against her rabbits in February last year.

Police prosecutor Sergeant Ben Bragger told the court the woman’s delay in reporting the allegations should not impact her credibility and that she was a victim of a “toxic relationship”.

“In 2022 delay is not a reason to attack credibility,” he said.

Sam Messina leaving Port Kembla Local Court on Tuesday alongside his lawyer Matt Ward. Picture: Dylan Arvela

“Women who are victims of domestic violence have many good reasons not to report things straight away, they are embarrassed, ashamed and don’t want their personal lives examined.

“She had the courage to report (the allegations) after her safety was breached … enough was enough and she felt she had to go to police.”

However, Messina’s barrister Ed Anderson argued the woman only made the assault allegations to police after they told her there was “nothing they could do” about the rabbit incident.

“She was told it was a property matter and that’s when these allegations arose,” he said.

In his submissions, Mr Anderson said his client had maintained he didn’t assault the woman, and questioned why, if he was “beating her non-stop” and was “constantly verbally and physically abusive” as the woman stated in her evidence, she had not moved out immediately after they broke up.

“She had no reason to remain in a violent home and did so voluntarily in circumstances where she could have left at any time,” he said.

Messina was supported in court by his new girlfriend and his mother throughout the hearing with the two shaking their heads as the guilty verdicts were handed down.

A sentencing assessment report as well as a psychological report will be prepared prior to him being sentenced in January.

Messina made headlines on Farmer Wants a Wife after a series of controversies including rumours about him being a truck driver and sending home the two girls vying for his heart, saying he saw them only as “friends”.