Fine over neighbours’ clash
Assault charges after man’s ‘misguided’ attempt to keep the peace
A man who was stabbed during a violent clash between neighbours that left another man needing surgery has claimed he was initially trying to keep the peace.
Southport Magistrates Court was told that Matthew John Nolan, 47, first heard yelling between his next-door neighbour and another nearby resident – co-accused Bradley Lowe – on September 16.
It was heard conflict had festered between Mr Lowe and Nolan’s neighbours amid allegations the couple’s cat had to be euthanised following a runin with the other man’s dog.
Prosecutor Aylish Robertson said the two other men arranged to meet out the front of Nolan’s property and they were soon joined by Nolan himself.
Ms Robertson said Nolan pushed his neighbour to the ground and “mounted” him in the heated confrontation, with Mr Lowe allegedly then hitting the man in the head with a metal pole.
The court was told the victim’s wife – armed with a kitchen knife to defend herself – ran out into the fray, thrusting it at Mr Lowe after he allegedly attacked her.
Ms Robertson said Nolan was also stabbed during the scuffle, then grabbed the woman’s hair and dragged her backwards to stop her from retreating. The woman eventually escaped and was able to call police.
It was heard she came back outside to find her husband “covered in blood” after it is alleged Mr Lowe continued his assault, knocking the man to the ground and bashing him with the metal bar.
The man needed surgery to repair a fractured wrist and suffered several other fractured bones among other injuries. His wife required stitches to a cut on the back of her head.
Defence lawyer Sophie Dagg said Nolan regretted the incident and never wanted anyone to get hurt, only involving himself in the hopes of intervening if his neighbours’ argument became physical.
Ms Dagg said Nolan was far less culpable than his co-accused and did not even realise Mr Lowe was allegedly armed until much later.
“On reflection, my client really wishes he had done things differently,” she said.
“It perhaps was being in the wrong place at the wrong time and not taking the steps that he probably should have to ensure that … an altercation didn’t ensue between the parties.”
Magistrate Nerida Wilson said she accepted Nolan’s actions were a “misguided” attempt to intervene in the “Western-style encounter” between his neighbours, and that there was no prearrangement with his co-accused.
She said character references and no history of violence supported claims Nolan was a valued employee and member of the Jacobs Well community.
Nolan pleaded guilty to two counts of assault occasioning bodily harm in company.
He was fined $4000 and ordered to pay a combined $1500 in compensation. No conviction was recorded.
Mr Lowe’s case remains before the courts.