Jonathan Alexander Girvan in court for wilful damage

A Sunshine Coast electrician declared “the Zero was coming out” before he was exposed on CCTV using weed killer on his neighbour’s property. Read what happened in court.

Jonathan Alexander Girvan appeared in Noosa Magistrates Court on October 24, 2023.

A neighbourly dispute turned poisonous after an electrician sprayed weed killer on hundreds of dollars worth of bamboo.

Jonathan Alexander Girvan, 35, pleaded guilty in Noosa Magistrates Court on October 24, 2023 to one count of wilful damage.

Police prosecutor David Hoffman told the court Girvan had been in disagreements over property boundaries with his neighbour in Cooran who moved to the area in January.

The victim residing in the property had erected a fence to separate their properties and installed CCTV cameras on July 18.

Senior Constable Hoffman said the neighbour then planted $528 worth of bamboo along the fence line.

The court heard the neighbours noticed four days later on CCTV footage Girvan spraying the plants with a spray nozzle and reported the matter to police.

It was observed shortly after vegetation and weeds had yellowed and appeared to be dying in the area near the fence, Constable Hoffman told the court.

Police officers attended the properties on August 5 where they saw the garden damage and found pump spray packs, bottles of poison and Yates Zero weed killer in Girvan’s home.

Constable Hoffman said upon checking Girvan’s phone, a text message conversation was revealed between Girvan and another neighbourhood resident, referring to the bamboo plants.

Jonathan Alexander Girvan appeared in Noosa Magistrates Court on October 24, 2023.

One day before he was captured spraying the fence line, Girvan had said “the Zero was coming out” to the resident.

“That c--------r over the back, he is one strange as f--k motherf-----r, planted bamboo and built little shelters for them so I can’t spray them out,” Girvan had said through text.

Girvan initially denied any involvement before officers advised him he had been captured on CCTV.

He then said he had been spraying fertiliser, rather than poison, the court heard.

Defence Lawyer Chelsea Emery told the court the offence had been “very foolish and very out of character” for Girvan who had no previous criminal history.

“It was an absolute brain snap on his part,” Ms Emery said.

The court heard Girvan had been in the neighbourhood for some years and was “amicable” with the new neighbours before “things got out of control.”

Ms Emery said the victim neighbour had agreed to plant native vegetation between the properties but opted for bamboo in the end.

“My client and others were obviously upset by that, he was significantly concerned about the impact it would have on his property,” she said.

Now with a black tarp separating the two properties, Ms Emery said the relationship was “non-existent” between neighbours and Girvan had offered to pay compensation for the destroyed plants.

The court heard Girvan worked as a qualified electrician and has been running his own business for five years.

Acting magistrate Raelene Ellis placed Girvan on a good behaviour bond of $1000 for 12 months and ordered him to pay compensation.

No conviction was recorded.