From the Courts on Monday, March

Neighbourhood Dispute

A Warwick man currently in the midst of a dispute with his neighbour was accused of trespassing on the other party’s property.

The man was reportedly fixing a fence separating the two properties when he dropped his hammer in the other man’s yard and had to retrieve it.

The fence had been built by the defendant, and the other party is reportedly facing charges for damaging the fence, as well as damaging cameras.

The other party had reportedly put rocks under the fence, and the defendant said in court that, “At my own expense, I put wood under the fence, dropped the hammer, and had to retrieve it.”

“I can’t talk to this man,” the defendant added.

Magistrate Victoria Sturgess ordered an “absolute discharge” based on the context of the situation.

“Neighbourhood disputes are very difficult to resolve, especially when criminal charges are involved” Magistrate Sturgess said.

The defendant was also on a no-contact order with his neighbour, for details that were not entirely divulged, but included details of the man knocking on his neighbour’s door.

Magistrate Sturgess asked “It’s not against the law to walk up to someone’s door is it?”

No punishment was passed, and no conviction was recorded.

Post hole rammer

A 67-year-old man was charged a collective $750 for the possession of ammunition, a weapon, and for stealing a post hole rammer.

The man had reportedly rented out a room in a house he owned to another party to help them out. Originally, the other party was allowed to stay in the room for free, and the defendant was building a shed for them to live in the backyard of the property.

After some time, the defendant asked the other party to pay rent, and they refused.

Following a falling out, the defendant left the property and stopped working on the shed.

The other party had later complained of stolen items, and said they saw the defendant’s vehicle leaving the property.

When police arrived at the defendant’s house to search his house, they found a post hole rammer, which was reported stolen.

The defendant told police the item belonged to him, but after a receipt check, the police discovered that this was in fact the stolen post hole rammer.

He reportedly withheld the post hole rammer as compensation for a lack of rental payments.

Magistrate Victoria Sturgess told the defendant that, “If you believe someone owes you money, there are ways to organise getting it back. You need to do things by the book.”

The post hole rammer is now reportedly in a position to be returned to its owner.

During the search of the man’s house, police also found an old rifle, which was said to be a souvenir from his professional hunting days, as well as 393 bullets.

The Magistrate expressed concern over the non-secured manner in which the weapon was found.

“Rural properties are very much targets for weapons,” she said. “If weapons are not secured property, they can be a great target for thieves, and pose a genuine safety issue.”

The defendant has a history of stealing and weapon related offences but has not committed an offence in nearly 25 years.

A post hole rammer is a tool used to knock fence posts into the ground.