Jason William Crane, 49, faces court for common assault

A warehouse worker has faced the Bundaberg Magistrates Court after a dispute about his lawn turned ugly.

The simple task of mowing the front lawn ended in an assault charge for a man who accused his neighbour of mowing grass on his side of the fence.

Jason William Crane, 49, pleaded guilty in the Bundaberg Magistrates Court on Friday to one count of common assault.

The court heard on December 3 at 5pm, Crane and his neighbour had both been mowing their front lawn, when it’s alleged the neighbour had started mowing the grass on the property boundary.

It’s believed Crane stopped what he was doing and started watching his neighbour.

As the victim continued to mow, Crane approached him and said, “if you want to f*** up your lawn, go for it, but you’re not going to f*** up mine.”

The victim continued to mow his own lawn when Crane approached him and pushed him two to three times.

One of these pushes hit the 57-year-old victim in the face and knocked off his glasses.

The victim backed away from Crane and his mower but Crane continued to approach him.

When the victim picked up his glasses and attempted to walk away, he was pushed in the chest by Crane who started to yell at him and the victim managed to walk away.

A neighbour who lived across the street from the two men captured the incident on video.

Police Prosecutor Sergeant Dean Burgess said the victim went to the police station to make a complaint.

“Injuries were observed,” Sergeant Burgess said.

He told the court police went to Crane’s house, but he declined to take part in an interview.

“It’s a neighbourhood dispute, it’s gone too far,” Sergeant Burgess said.

Appearing in court via phone, Crane’s lawyer told the court their client was a warehouse worker and dad of two who had ongoing issues with his neighbour and his partner was recently diagnosed with cancer.

“His partner has recently been diagnosed with breast cancer and is having surgery,” his lawyer said.

“He was quite stressed surrounding this incident.

“His neighbour and him have had issues for quite a long time and have been neighbours for eight and a half years.”

Crane was placed on a good behaviour bond of $450 for a period of three months and no conviction was recorded.