Steve Bisley guilty on assault

Actor Steve Bisley has been found guilty of assaulting his former wife, following an incident last September.

A magistrate at Sydney’s Downing Centre Local Court yesterday was found to have caused bodily harm to his former wife, publicist Sally Burleigh.

AAP reports an altercation between the two saw the former Sea Patrol star pushed Burleigh against a wall. Her elbows left two 5mm deep indentations in the gyprock, the court heard. She admitted pushing Bisley, yelling at him to leave her home before he grabbed her arm, pulled her downstairs and forced her head against a wall. Burleigh admitted “whacking” him before he pushed her to the floor and put his “boot on her neck”.

The magistrate rejected his claim that he was acting in self-defence. He had pleaded not guilty to one count of assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

The magistrate said Bisley’s actions ”were not reasonable in the circumstances” and his act of putting his foot against Ms Burleigh’s neck was ”fraught with danger”.

Bisley most recently appeared in Lowdown and East of Everything for the ABC.

He was ordered to return to court on Monday to discuss sentencing options.

His barrister says he intends to appeal the decision.

Source: The Australian, The Age