A 71-year-old Coodanup man pleaded guilty in court on Friday morning for causing fear with a baseball bat after he saw his neighbour painting over “highly inflammatory” graffiti on his front fence.
Prosecuting sergeant Sean Discombe told the Mandurah Magistrates Court the man saw his neighbour painting the fence on November 27, 2017 and walked up to him with a baseball bat held by his side.
Bystanders who saw the incident stopped and police where called. The man told police he was just protecting himself.
The night before grafitti had been painted on the accused’s fence, and he assumed his neighbour was involved, defence lawyer Rosie Myers said.
Ms Myers told the court her client had once been friends with his neighbour but had a falling out recently.
The man had seen the victim act violently in the past, so he protected himself when he approached the victim, she said.
Magistrate Anne Longden told the court the words written on his fence were highly inflammatory and the man’s actions arose out of frustration. She acknowledged he had accepted that is not the way to deal with problems.
She said the circumstances were unusual given the man had no prior convictions.
The man was given a spent conviction and fined $800, that was suspended for six months.
Carla Hildebrandt
Journalist at the Mandurah Mail
Journalist at the Mandurah Mail
