Asa Hillard jailed in Adelaide District Court for breaking down ex-wife’s bathroom door with baseball bat

A man has left the mother of his children traumatised after he broke into her house and used a baseball bat to smash down the bathroom door she was hiding behind in fear.

A meth user has left his ex-wife living in fear that he will find her again after he smashed down her bathroom door with a baseball bat.

Asa William Edwards Hillard, 31, was jailed in the Adelaide District Court last month for his “abhorrent” behaviour.

The court heard Hillard and the victim had previously been in a relationship and have two children together.

The victim was home alone at Banksia Park on July 29, 2020, when she started receiving abusive messages and phone calls from Hillard.

Hillard arrived at her house later that night and the victim locked herself in the toilet and called police.

“The complainant heard you yelling abuse at her and threatening to take the children, you broke down the front door,” Judge Patrick O’Sullivan said during sentencing.

Hillard then drove a metal baseball bat through the toilet door.

Another person then arrived at the address and Hillard eventually left.

“It is fortunate that the complainant did not suffer or sustain any physical injuries, but it is clear … that the ordeal was absolutely terrifying for her,” Judge O’Sullivan said.

Asa Hillard was jailed in the Adelaide District Court for trespassing and damaging property. Picture: Facebook

Hillard, of Golden Grove, had previously pleaded guilty to trespassing and damaging property.

The court heard Hillard became an almost daily methamphetamine user after their marriage ended in 2018.

“You became very angry with your former wife because you had been advised she had been using drugs in front of the children and this information clouded your judgment,” Judge O’Sullivan said.

“That combined with the fact you were not properly medicating and you were yourself using illicit substances on an almost daily basis, led you to act the way that you did.”

The court heard the victim was left traumatised by the incident.

“She feels sickened with concern and fear that you had no hesitation in acting the way you did,” Judge O’Sullivan said.

“She is terrified to what lengths you will go to find her, and she constantly replays your offending on that night.”

The court heard Hillard, who is now abstinent from drugs, now realised there were other ways he could have handled the situation.

“The complainant was entitled to feel safe and secure in her house, instead she was subjected to a terrifying experience, in which her front door was broken, and the door of the toilet in which she sheltered from your aggression was damaged with a baseball bat,” Judge O’Sullivan said.

Judge O’Sullivan sentenced Hillard to two years and 11 months jail, with a non-parole period of one year and eight months.

“Domestic violence is a scourge and cannot be tolerated under any circumstances,” he said.

“Your offending was abhorrent.”

The sentence was backdated to August 3, 2020.