Harrowing details have been laid bare in court of how a former footballer orchestrated a ‘jealous, controlling and terrifying’ campaign of domestic violence against his wife and threatened to burn her alive.
Mathew Vidic, 42, a former SANFL player with Norwood, has pleaded guilty to aggravated counts of threatening to cause harm and to kill Julia Hodge.
During the attacks on May 26 and June 3 last year, he twice threatened to set his wife on fire, on one occasion doing so while splashing litres of petrol and flicking a lighter, the Adelaide Advertiser reported.
On Tuesday, Ms Hodge, who is a mum, a champion marathon runner and teacher, confronted her ex-husband in the South Australia District Court.
In her victim impact statement, she described the attacks were part of a ‘pattern’ of abuse and that Vidic repeatedly called her from prison after being arrested.
Vidic has previously stolen her passport to stop her from competing abroad, and threatened to kill the family dog with a knife, she told the court.
‘May 26 and June 3 were the most severe manifestations of a pattern of coercive control, manipulation and threats of violence that Mathew subjected me to over an extended period of time,’ Ms Hodge recalled.
Former footballer Mathew Vidic (pictured) splashed petrol around his house as he threatened to set his wife on fire in a jealous rage, a court has heard
‘On May 26, he threatened to burn down our house with me and our children inside (with) a full 20litre jerry can of petrol he had prepared earlier, to teach me a lesson’.
The court heard that she called Triple 0, but the ex-footballer kicked in the door, took her phone and hung up on the operator.
The emergency services operator tried to call back, but Ms Hodge was too afraid to try answer it and the assault only ended when their nine-year-old daughter pleaded with Vidic to leave her mum alone.
Ms Hodge didn’t report the incident to the police at the time because she was terrified.
‘I felt powerless to protect my children and escape… I was overwhelmed with a horrible sense of helplessness, isolation and dread,’ she told the court.
‘At that point, I had never been more afraid in my life, I was consumed by the thought he was going to murder me and potentially our children.’
She said Vidic told her that ‘if I can’t keep you through love, I’ll keep you by fear’ and ‘if I can’t have you, nobody can’.
On June 3 last year, while their children were at a sleepover elsewhere, Vidic entered their bedroom carrying a 10litre jerry can of fuel.
He flicked a cigarette lighter for 30 minutes while repeatedly threatening to set his wife on fire as she laid in bed.
Vidic also verbally abused her, accusing her ‘of untrue things, and called me appalling things, out of his severe jealousy and paranoia’.
The mum recalled feeling helpless and vulnerable and powerless as Vidic splashed petrol on the bedside table and floor, the cigarette lighter near my head with a naked flame’.
She thought she ‘would be burned alive that night, particularly if I said the wrong thing’.
But after recording the assault on her phone, Ms Hodge managed to escape and contacted police.
Vidic was arrested that night and has been in custody ever since.
The court heard that Vidic had been diagnosed with Narcissistic Personality Disorder, Type 2 Bipolar and Intermittent Explosive Disorder.
But his ex-wife told the court none of these conditions lessened his offences against ‘those he should have been protecting’ in ‘the place we should have been safest’.
While Ms Hodge was relieved he pleaded guilty, she fears there could be ‘potential consequences’ for her for testifying against him.
She also told the court that she and her children would suffer for years.
Vidic’s barrister, Peter Morrison, said his client was mortified and remorseful and and vowed not to try to communicate his ex-wife, the Advertiser reported.
He told the court that Vidic’s father had abused his mother, and she had killed him in self-defence.
Mr Morrison said there was no excuse for Vidic’s crimes, but they were ‘explained’ by his family history.
Old sporting injuries that left him unable to work saw Vidic become a stay-at-home dad, but he became a binge drinker while the children were at school.
A former footballer orchestrated a ‘jealous, controlling and terrifying’ campaign of domestic violence against his wife and threatened to burn her alive (stock image)
Doing so, worsened existing mental health issues and the jealousy he felt over Ms Hodge’s absences from the home, the court heard.
Vidic’s barrister requested his client’s sentence be backdated to his arrest date almost 15 months ago and that he be allowed to serve the rest of his time on home detention.
Judge Rauf Soulio ordered a home detention inquiry report, but warned Vidic not to draw ‘a false sense of hope’.
Vidic remains remanded in custody for sentencing in October.
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