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A reality show star has admitted he broke into his ex-partner’s home and threatened to kill her pet rabbits – but denied claims he physically assaulted her.
The Farmer Wants A Wife star Sam Messina initially pleaded not guilty to all charges, which included intimidation, trespassing and four counts of assault.
But on Thursday he changed his plea to guilty on the intimidation and trespass charges at the Port Kembla Local Court.
Messina was first charged with a total of seven domestic violence offences against his ex-girlfriend in July 2021.
Mr Messina was a hot favourite in the The Farmer Wants A Wife series, but got flak for rejecting two lovelorn contenders Mackenzie Phillips (left) and and Allanah Taranto (right) (pictured with the star on the red carpet)
Court documents revealed Mr Messina (pictured) sent threatening texts to his ex-girlfriend
Tendered court documents revealed Mr Messina had sent a volley of threatening text messages to the woman in February last year – six weeks after the pair had called it quits, reported the Saturday Telegraph.
The texts revealed Messina had been at her Illawarra home and had taken her pet rabbits from their enclosure.
The court heard he first said he would sell the pets that he had originally gifted to her, before threatening to kill the bunnies.
Messina pleaded not guilty to assaults on his ex-girlfriend, which were alleged to have taken place on numerous occasions in 2020 while they were living together in Orange, NSW.
In March that year his ex-girlfriend alleged he opened a door onto her foot, while in July she said he took hold of her clothes and threw her onto the floor.
In late July 2020, the court heard that Mr Messina shoved her before punching her in the nose causing it to bleed.
The pair split up not long after that, and she moved to Illawarra.
In early March 2021 his ex-girlfriend went to police providing evidence of the injuries allegedly caused by Mr Messina.
The hearing will continue later on this year.
Mr Messina rose to prominence after featuring in Channel 7’s popular The Farmer Wants A Wife TV program, as one of the farmers looking for love.
He astonished viewers when he rejected two women, Mackenzie Phillips and Allanah Taranto who were competing for his affections.
In July last year claims came to light that he wasn’t a real farmer, and he was using his brother’s farm in the show.
Instead, it was claimed, Messina was a truck driver from Sydney.
The TV show favourite said in an Instagram post that the farm used in the show was a family farm and he had ‘never once claimed that it is explicitly mine’.
He also said the claim of him driving a truck was true.
‘I’m just like every other person out there – sometimes two incomes are needed to pay the bills. I drive trucks as a second income and that’s never been a secret.’
Mr Messina previously had to respond to claims he was a truck driver and not a ‘real farmer’. ‘I’m just like every other person out there’, the reality TV show star (pictured) said on Instagram. ‘Sometimes two incomes are needed to pay the bills. I drive trucks as a second income and that’s never been a secret’
Source: DailyMail
