A former contestant on Farmer Wants a Wife has been found guilty on three charges of assaulting his ex partner.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Samuel Messina had pleaded not guilty to four counts of assault occasioning actual bodily harm, however Magistrate Michael Ong found Messina's ex-partner an honest and believable witness over two days of testimony earlier this year.
Mr Ong found Messina was violent towards his ex-partner on three occasions.
In the first, on March 23 and 24, during the course of an argument, Messina's ex-partner was behind the bedroom door. On the outside, Messina pushed the door onto his ex-partner hitting her toes, knowing she was on the other side of the door.
On July 8, Messina grabbed the woman's clothing during an argument and caused injuries to her chest.
Later that same month, Messina punched the woman in the nose, causing bruises and leaving her bleeding.
Port Kembla Local Court heard that for weeks afterwards, whenever the woman blew her nose the scars would re-open leading to bleeding.
Magistrate Ong found a further allegation that Messina whipped the woman with a phone charging cable not proven beyond reasonable doubt.
In finding Messina guilty, Mr Ong said the woman was cross examined at length over two days in 2022.
"[She] presented as person who is honest and candid, freely answered all questions, and did not attempt to tailor her evidence," he said.
"I accept she was a reliable historian, and her evidence was truthful, consistent and unrehearsed."
Mr Ong said Messina's version of events, which he gave to police in an interview in March 2021, was not reliable and that Messina's responses were deflections of the allegations put to him.
"I do not find it is consistent with honest commentary on the allegations, [the testimony] was directed to holistically dismissing the allegations put to him."
Messina will return to Port Kembla Local Court in January to be sentenced.
When Messina appeared on the reality show for farmers looking for love, media outlets claimed he had a 'secret girlfriend'.
Media outlets also claimed Messina was a 'fake farmer', after it was revealed that Messina used land his brother lives on in Canowindra for the reality show when he actually lives in Orange and works as a truck driver.
Messina denied claims he had a girlfriend while filming the show.
In an Instagram post, Messina said that he was never secretive that the land was a "family farm", and he split his time between the farm and nearby Orange.
To read more stories, download the Illawarra Mercury news app in the Apple Store or Google Play.
