Bisley assaulted ex-wife, court found

Mad Max star Steve Bisley has been found guilty of assaulting his ex-wife after a
magistrate rejected his claims he was acting in self defence.
The actor, known for his roles on the television series Water Rats and Sea Patrol,
caused actual bodily harm to his former wife, Sally Burleigh, at her Balmain home,
in Sydney's inner west, on September 6, 2009.
In Sydney's Downing Centre Local Court on Wednesday, Magistrate Jane Culver rejected
Bisley's version of events and said Ms Burleigh's "version of events accords with
commonsense".
After an argument in her bathroom, Ms Burleigh was pushed against a wall, with her
elbows leaving two 5mm deep indentations in the gyprock, before sliding down the
wall, the court heard.
She admitted following Bisley and pushing him, yelling at him to leave before he
grabbed her arm, pulled her down the stairs and forced her head against a wall.
Ms Burleigh admitted "whacking" Bisley before being pushed face down on the floor,
where Bisley put his "boot on her neck".
Bisley claimed he was forced to perform a "legsweep", where he held Ms Burleigh's
shoulders, put his foot behind her leg and "put her to the floor", in order to
restrain her and stop her from hitting him.
Ms Culver noted that while Ms Burleigh had conceded her wrong-doing during the
incident, Bisley was "far less willing" to take responsibility for "any lack of
harmony".
She said Bisley's version of events and claims he had not provoked the situation
made it "hard to see" why Ms Burleigh would begin striking him and ordering him to
get out of her house.
Ms Culver said Ms Burleigh's evidence was "entirely consistent" and not "some
grandiose exaggerated story", as suggested by the defence.
She said injury to Ms Burleigh's elbows were "consistent with friction injury".
She said the dents in the wall were in the precise points you would expect them to
be if you accepted Ms Burleigh's evidence, rejecting defence submissions they had
occurred before the incident.
The magistrate said Bisley's actions "were not reasonable in the circumstances" and
the act of putting his foot against her neck was "fraught with danger".
Bisley was ordered to return to court on Monday to discuss sentencing options.