Trial of duo accused of violent Naracoorte home invasion cut short after ‘extraordinary’ day in court

The trial of two SA shearers who allegedly bashed the father and son of a man they were hunting for during a terrifying home invasion has been abruptly cut short.

Two Naracoorte shearers on trial for a violent assault may learn their fate on Tuesday after an “extraordinary turn of events” abruptly ended court proceedings on Wednesday.

William Joseph Broadbent, 38, and Adrian Clarke Lovegrove, 33, both of Naracoorte, appeared in Mount Gambier District Court for the third day of their trial after pleading not guilty to serious criminal trespass and aggravated assault over an altercation on August 8, 2021.

It is alleged Mr Broadbent and Mr Lovegrove arrived at a Struan home on the outskirts of Naracoorte looking for Nathan Steel at about 9.30PM, allegedly looking to confront him over claims he tried to run their friend off the road days earlier, the court heard.

Adrian Clarke Lovegrove (R), 33,of Naracoorte is co-accused and on trial for assault and trespassing for an incident that took place in August 2021. Picture: Facebook

The prosecutor told the court the two men were met by Mr Steele’s parents Glenn and Andreana Steel and his son, they made “loud and threatening calls in aggravated voices” before “barging inside” the house demanding to know where Nathan was.

The court heard in a video of Mr Broadbent’s interview with police after the assault that Mr Broadbent said to Glenn Steele, “if your son is going to threaten our family, I’m going to threaten yours”.

William Joseph Broadbent allegedly grabbed Glenn by the throat and threw him into a stove. Picture: Facebook.

In the same video Mr Broadbent recalled that he allegedly said to the son, “you’re Nathan’s son, so you’re going to cop a beating,” and punched him in the face, leaving him with a swollen cheek and split lip.

The prosecutor said after striking the son, Mr Broadbent “grabbed Glenn by the throat and threw him into the stove, breaking the glass”.

According to Andreana, Mr Lovegrove then punched Glenn in the head with “one king hit, followed by two to three blows as he fell”.

Andreana told the court she “thought her family would be killed that night”.

After assaulting Glenn and the son, Mr Broadbent and Mr Lovegrove left the property while Andreana called the police, the prosecutor said.

Police officers told the court on Tuesday when they arrived a distressed Andreana “could barely string together coherent sentences”, Glenn had a bleeding head wound that caused him to “almost pass out”, and the son had run off into the property’s surrounding pine forest and wasn’t found until a few hours later.

The trial was set to conclude on Wednesday with the jury leaving to deliberate in the afternoon.

But after returning from an adjournment following the prosecution’s closing remarks, Judge Soulio told the jury Mr Broadbent’s lawyer was no longer continuing with the trial.

Judge Soulio apologised to the jury for the inconvenience, calling the day’s proceedings an “extraordinary turn of events”.