A raging pensioner grabbed his neighbour by the throat and pinned him against a wall in a heated dispute over parking.
Brian Reid, 72, landed in the dock at Aberdeen Sheriff Court following a history of unneighbourly fall-outs involving gardening work, home improvements and parking.
During the latest spat between the bickering pair of Middleton Circle, Aberdeen, the “straw that broke the camel’s back” came when the neighbour called Reid’s wife “trash”.
The retired lorry driver then snapped – pushing his neighbour back into his house, grabbing hold of his neck with both hands and pinning him up against a wall.
‘You’ve had it in for me from the start’
Fiscal depute Stephanie Cardow told the court the complainer returned home around 12.15pm on April 3 this year and discovered he couldn’t park in his driveway that was blocked by Reid’s lorry.
Instead, the man parked in Reid’s driveway and asked him to move his truck, which he did a short time later.
At 4.20pm, Reid walked past his neighbour’s living room window and gestured for him to come outside.
The squabbling men quarrelled on the doorstep as Reid claimed the man had been “unreasonable” about the parking situation earlier.
The neighbour threatened to call the police, to which Reid replied: “Go on, do it.”
Reid then pushed the man backwards into his home and against a wall, where he grabbed him by the throat with both hands.
The complainer struggled and eventually managed to break free.
Reid told him: “You’ve had it in for me from the start.”
The police were then called and Reid was arrested.
Reid’s lawyer claimed ‘he became animated because the complainer became animated’
Reid, of Middleton Circle, Aberdeen, pled guilty to a charge of assault.
Defence agent Alex Burn said his client is retired but occasionally drives lorries.
He told the court a dispute had broken out on the day in question when the neighbour decided to park on Reid’s drive when he couldn’t park on his own.
“During the course of the dispute later in the evening, he became animated because the complainer became animated,” Mr Burn explained.
The solicitor said the “straw that broke the camel’s back” came when the neighbour branded his client’s wife “trash” and ordered her to get off his lawn.
Sheriff Lesley Johnston told Reid: “I hope this experience of appearing in court has proved to be a lesson to you in not letting your emotions overcome you, notwithstanding the behaviour of others.”
She fined him £320 and added: “Hopefully, I don’t see you in Aberdeen Sheriff Court again.”
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