Dalby District Court: William George Hendle found guilty of assaulting neighbours following fence dispute

A Tara man with a shocking history of neighbourly disputes has been found guilty for attacking his neighbour with rocks and a pole after an argument broke out over a fence. Full details.

A man who was on trial for attacking his neighbour and her friend with rocks and a metal pole has been jailed after he was found guilty of the assault.

After deliberating for only an hour a jury found William George Hendle guilty of four counts of assault occasioning bodily harm while armed and not guilty of one count of wilful damage while at Dalby District Court on May 5.

Throughout the three day trial, the jury was shown photos and video footage of injuries sustained by Ruth Huntley and Matthew Karbownik on April 1 in 2020 after Hendle, 57, had thrown rocks at them, swung a metal pole over Ms Huntley’s head and wrestled with Mr Karbownik.

Images shown to the court showed a bloody cut behind Ms Huntley’s ear and grazes to her back, as well as grazes and bruising to Mr Karbownik’s face and back.

Ms Huntley was living next door to Hendle and told the jury she often copped abuse from the neighbour about her driveway being on his property and on that day he yelled, “get off my land, I’ll get you off one way or another”.

The court heard from the woman as she provided evidence that it was then she attempted to record Hendle on her mobile that he started to throw rocks at her and Mr Karbownik, before the defendent swung a pole and hit her in the back of the head.

“I felt a lot of pain in the side of my head,” she said.

The court heard from Ms Huntley that a nearby neighbour ran over to help break up Hendle and Mr Karbownik who had started fighting one another on the ground before the Tara man retreated back to his side of the fence.

“He crab-walked underneath the fence and back onto his own property,” she said.

Crown prosecutor Andreas Galloway told the court Hendle had a history of disputes with other neighbours.

Man on the chair in Handcuffs. - istock

“He has a relevant criminal history,” he said.

Mr Galloway told the court Hendle had been sentenced periods of imprisonment for rape and unlawful stalking at other courts.

In 2010 he was sentenced to a period of imprisonment for threatening a neighbour with weapons and throwing rocks at them causing bruising to the back of the legs.

Defence barrister Jens Streit, who had previously told the court Hendle was provoked by Ms Huntley and Mr Karbownik as they took out a knife and a pistol on him on the day of the attack in 2020, said the Tara man’s case was different as he wasn’t “accosting strangers”.

“The genesis of the offending was a boundary dispute with the complainant which has escalated over time, there was mutual abuse,” Mr Streit said.

It had been previously alleged that Hendle threw rocks at Mr Karbownik’s ute on a separate day, damaging the back of the tray however Mr Streit said the complainant made it up and placed rocks in the back of the ute himself.

The trial which consisted of 12 jurors, eight female and three male included witness recounts from police officers involved, a doctor and a witness who walked over to break up the fight between Mr Hendle and the male victim.

Judge Amanda McDonell acknowledged the man was on a suspended sentence when he committed the violent attack on his neighbours and took into account the man’s relevant history.

While summarising Ms McDonell noted Hendle as saying he was planning on relocating houses after he got out of jail, to which he mumbled “that’s for sure”.

She said she could not declare the time he had spent in custody as it was less than a day.

Hendle pleaded guilty to four counts of assaulting occasioning bodily harm while armed.

He was sentenced to 22 months’ jail and will be released on parole April 5, 2024.