Troy Benjamin Dawe pleads guilty to assaulting 72-year-old woman

A man’s refusal to stop playing loud music despite repeated requests from his older neighbours, who tried to get him to wear headphones, ended in violence.

A Carters Ridge man’s penchant for playing loud music has ended in jail after a dispute with his older neighbours over the noise erupted in violence and left a 72-year-old woman in need of surgery.

Gympie District Court heard the couple, who lived next door to the Carters Ridge property where Troy Benjamin Dawe occupied a shed, had tried to raise their complaints about the volume the 42-year-old was playing music at.

They were told by the owner to report their complaints to the police, the court heard.

Instead on April 4, 2021, the woman’s 76-year-old husband went to the shed Dawe called home with a pair of headphones, clearly implying he should play his music through them.

Dawe repeatedly told the man to “f--k off” and then kicked the headphones away, the court heard.

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Troy Benjamin Dawe, 42, of Carters Ridge, pleaded guilty to one count of assault occasioning bodily harm and stealing.

The 72-year-old woman then walked over to the property and began filming Dawe’s behaviour on her phone.

He told her to “f--k off” too.

The court heard after she turned and walked away, Dawe followed her and pushed her to the ground.

He then twisted her right arm behind her back and grabbed at her phone.

They struggled for a few moments more and, when Dawe finally wrested the device from her, he took it back into the shed, the court heard.

The owner of the property tried to get Dawe to return the phone but he refused, and it was never recovered.

The woman suffered a fractured wrist in the struggle, and required surgery.

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Troy Benjamin Dawe was sentenced to 15 months jail. He will be released on parole on September 17, 2024.

Judge Brad Farr said evidence had been tendered the 42-year-old had been “drinking all the night prior” to the incident.

He said Dawe’s attack had been “gratuitous”, especially as the woman had been walking away from him.

Judge Farr accepted a psychiatric report tendered to the court that said Dawe had been treated for schizophrenia since he was 18, but nonetheless he had “behaved extremely violently towards the woman”.

His criminal history only had four entries since 2005, but those included two separate incidents in which he had punched people in the face.

Dawe pleaded guilty to assault occasioning bodily harm and stealing.

He was sentenced to 15 months jail, with a parole release date of September 17, 2024.