Former Miss Australia and former Tasmanian government parliamentary secretary Kathryn Hay punched and slapped her ex-husband during eight years of their marriage, the Launceston Magistrates court has heard.
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Kathryn Isobel Hay, 48, has pleaded not guilty to a count of emotional abuse and intimidation.
Her former husband, Troy Shane Richardson, told the court of several incidents where Ms Hay slapped him while he was driving.
After one of the incidents in Hobart, a police family violence order was put in place.
Mr Richardson told the court that Ms Hay would call him a "c---" and a "bastard" and abuse him if he did not carry out the list of jobs she would give him.
He alleged that Ms Hay threw a bowl of cereal at him, made a throat-slitting gesture towards him, accused him of cheating, and told him she wished she had never met him and that she wished she could die because he was treating her so badly.
He said she would frequently put the abuse in writing.
Police prosecutor Garth Stevens tendered twelve screenshots which detailed some of the accusations and the language used.
Mr Richardson told the court of Ms Hay's behaviour towards their children, which included physical and emotional abuse.
Ms Hay's defence lawyer, Dermot Connors, objected to the evidence, but magistrate Simon Brown accepted it because it indicated the effects of the allegations on Mr Richardson's feelings.
He told the court that she scolded their children during a period when they played tennis.
On one occasion, she demanded that one of the children hand her a Nationals tennis shirt. He said she cut it up with scissors.
The shirt was tendered as an exhibit in the trial.
Mr Richardson said that she accused him of having an affair with a Victorian dog breeder who he had never met.
"Were you ever unfaithful to Ms Hay?," Mr Stevens asked.
"No," Mr Richardson said.
He told the court Ms Hay would frequently talk about her late husband saying what a good person he was.
Mr Richardson told the court she was controlling and manipulative and would not let him see his parents.
The court heard that Ms Hay told police that he had sexually abused their children. Mr Richardson said he was interviewed by police many times after the allegation but was never charged.
The court heard that during their marriage the children were removed by Child Safety Services.
He said that in 2021 she demanded that he make an application to revoke the family violence order and edited the submission.
Mr Richardson told the court that Ms Hay had demanded that he contact her siblings and tell them that all the problems in their marriage were his fault.
He said what she said to him made him feel distraught, broken, extremely low and depressed.
Mr Connors will cross examine Mr Richardson on Tuesday afternoon.
Ms 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 as a member for Bass.
She became parliamentary secretary to Labor Premier Jim Bacon, but retired from parliament for personal reasons in 2006.
Ms Hay, a teacher by profession, lived overseas for 18 months with her late husband, Michael Creighton, a bomb disposal expert and aid worker in high-risk areas like Lebanon.
She nominated to stand for the 2013 state election, but withdrew before the election.
Nick Clark
I am the Supreme and Magistrates Court reporter for The Examiner. My journalism career has clicked over 34 years and encompasses four different spells at Tasmanian newspapers.
I am the Supreme and Magistrates Court reporter for The Examiner. My journalism career has clicked over 34 years and encompasses four different spells at Tasmanian newspapers.
