Setback in court case of former Norwood Redlegs player Mathew Vidic over horrific abuse of ex-wife

The ex-wife of a former SANFL footballer who was subjected to a horrific domestic violence rampage has been left further distressed after there was a setback in his court case.

Vidic with his then-wife Julia at Minda’s 110th birthday gala dinner at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre in 2008.

There has been a setback in the court case of a former Norwood footballer who inflicted a horrific domestic violence rampage on his ex-wife.

Mathew Vidic was due to be sentenced in District Court on Wednesday but his counsel asked for an adjournment after the home detention report came back as unsuitable.

Isabelle Kimber, for the prosecution, told the court the delay was regrettable.

“The victim was anticipating that the matter would be finalised today and the fact of it being delayed has caused her some distress,” she said.

Ms Kimber said they remained opposed to home detention order being made, regardless of whether a suitable address could be found.

In her victim impact statement in August, Ms Vidic’s ex-wife, Julia Hodge – a teacher, mother and champion marathon runner – said those incidents were just parts of a “pattern” of abuse.

She said they were preceded by Vidic threatening to kill the family dog with a knife, and by him stealing her passport to prevent her competing overseas.

The crimes were followed, she said, by him repeatedly calling her from prison after his arrest.

Mathew Vidic attends a tribunal hearing in September 2001.

Footballer Mathew Vidic at a Norwood vs. Sturt match in May 2003.

“(On May 26) he threatened to burn down our house with me and our children inside (with) a full 20L jerry can of petrol he had prepared earlier, to teach me a lesson,” Ms Hodge said.

Ms Hodge said she called Triple 0 for help but Vidic kicked in the door, took her phone and hung up on the operator.

The incident only ended, she said, when the couple’s nine-year-old daughter intervened and begged Vidic to leave Ms Hodge alone.

Teacher, marathon runner and mother Julia Hodge outside the District Court, where she gave a victim impact statement against her ex-husband, former Norwood footballer Matthew Vidic, who twice threatened to burn her alive. Picture: Sean Fewster

“I felt powerless to protect my children and escape … I was overwhelmed with a horrible sense of helplessness, isolation and dread,” she said.

She said her fears were “very nearly realised” on June 3, when their children were at a sleepover.

“Mathew entered the bedroom carrying a 10L jerry can of fuel, flicking a cigarette lighter … for 30 minutes, he threatened repeatedly to set me on fire as I lay in bed,” she said.

“I felt completely helpless, vulnerable and powerless as he splashed petrol on the bedside table and floor, the cigarette lighter near my head with a naked flame.

“I truly believed I would be burned alive that night, particularly if I said the wrong thing.”

Ms Hodge managed to escape and, having recorded the incident on her phone, alerted police – they arrested Vidic, who has been in custody ever since.

Vidic, 42, has pleaded guilty to aggravated counts of threatening to cause harm, and to kill, over his cruelty toward Ms Hodge in their home on May 26 and June 3 last year.

In her statement, Ms Hodge acknowledged Vidic had been diagnosed with Narcissistic Personality Disorder, Type 2 Bipolar and Intermittent Explosive Disorder.

She said they in no way detracted from his conscious choice to offend against “those he should have been protecting” in “the place we should have been safest”.

The court previously heard Vidic played for Norwood between 2001 and 2007, but left the game after sustaining injuries that “required 22 surgeries”.

On Wednesday, Judge Rauf Soulio adjourned the charges until later this month.

Originally published as Setback in court case of former Norwood Redlegs player Mathew Vidic over horrific abuse of ex-wife