Jayden Mercer pleads guilty to common assault, damaging property at Ballina Local Court

A plasterer has landed in court after he abused a woman, smashed up a home and tossed items at her in a popular Evans Head watering hole.

Jayden Mercer outside Ballina Courthouse

An Evans Head plasterer turned sour and hounded his former partner of six weeks after she refused to rekindle their relationship, a court heard.

Jayden Mercer, 26, pleaded guilty at Ballina Local Court to common assault and destroying/damaging property.

Mercer was in a relationship with his former partner for just six weeks before the woman called it off, police state in court documents.

Mercer went to the woman’s home near Ballina, at Evans Head, about 2.30pm on August 19, one day after the break-up.

The woman refused to reconcile and Mercer was not pleased.

“This upset (Mercer) and he became verbally abusive, telling the victim she was ‘f--ked in the head’ and a ‘gronk’,” the documents state.

Mercer did not take the break-up well, the court was told.

The woman asked Mercer to leave.

He instead asked: “What are you going to do about it”.

The woman was scared as she left the room and Mercer followed close behind, continuing to hurl abuse at her.

“After getting no response, he walked towards the front door and pushed a cupboard onto the ground, with the contents smashing onto the floor,” the documents state.

A variety of items including an antique tea canister were damaged or destroyed when the piece of furniture came crashing down.

The victim took a photo of the damage and sent it to Mercer’s mother, who came and helped clean up the mess.

That night, the woman went to Evans pub Hotel Illawong’s and hung out in the beer garden with a friend.

But she noticed things being thrown at her about 11.30pm.

Hotel Illawong, Evans Head. Picture: File

Ice cubes and a cigarette packet were thrown at the woman during the night, as well as a drink, which drenched her outfit and caused her to leave the venue.

She did not know who was throwing the objects, but CCTV showed it was Mercer., the court heard.

He was arrested, slapped with the charges and granted bail at Ballina Police Station on September 3.

The court heard on Thursday that Mercer had been highly intoxicated at the time of offending.

Police prosecutor Val Short sought an apprehended violence order (AVO) to protect the victim.

She told the court Mercer’s criminal history was limited.

Magistrate Karen Stafford accepted Mercer was drunk at the time, but said it was no excuse.

Mercer was convicted and ordered to serve a nine-month supervised community corrections order.

He was also fined $800 and the AVO was put in place.