A Dawesville man who 'just wants to live a quiet life with his dog' has been spared imprisonment for his violent acts after being handed a suspended sentence at Mandurah Magistrates court.
Andrew Charles Brown appeared in court on Friday to face charges of assault occasioning bodily harm, being armed or pretending to be armed in a way that may cause fear, and making a threat to unlawfully do an act.
The court heard how on October 10, 2021, Brown assaulted his neighbour, with whom he has a "tumultuous relationship" and against whom he was under a violence restraining order, leaving him with a fractured nose and clavicle, a swollen and closed left eye, and 13 lumps on his face and shoulders.
The victim was awoken by a loud noise at 2.15am and confronted and accused Brown of making the noise and causing damage to the front of his house, which lead to an altercation and Brown punching him in the head and shoulders, causing him to fall to the ground.
Brown then mounted the victim and continued punching him, yelling "I'm going to kill you", before the victim was able to get away and seek help.
The court then heard Brown visited a friend at a Dawesville caravan park on December 28, 2021, where the pair had a social drink which took a violent turn when Brown's dog urinated on the victim's tomato plants.
The victim hit the dog with a large spade, which angered Brown and lead to a short altercation before Brown armed himself with a 20cm-long kitchen knife, which he used to threaten the victim and bystanders alerted to the commotion.
The incident came to an end when the victim struck Brown with a shovel, which required treatment at Royal Perth Hospital including 20 stitches on his calf.
Brown's lawyer Lauren Miranda said her client had no memory of the incident and said having undiagnosed PTSD and ADHD, outlined in a psychological report for the court, which "affected his behaviour" and caused him to lash out when drinking.
During sentencing, Magistrate Leanne Atkins outlined Brown's "history of violence", which included prior assault convictions in 2006, 2007 and 2017, and said a "considerably larger" sentence would have been considered but for his psychological issues.
She sentenced him to eight months prison for the assault occasioning bodily harm charge, and five months each for being armed or pretending to be armed in a way that may cause fear and the making a threat to unlawfully do an act, the latter concurrently.
"This is the only appropriate sentence... your behaviour is totally unacceptable, drinking or otherwise," Ms Atkins said.
However, given Brown's treatment needs for his recent diagnoses, Ms Atkins suspended the sentence for 12 months with supervisions and program requirements, and ordered he pay court costs of $269.
