Cameron John Guppy faces Toowoomba Magistrates Court for assault on neighbour

A 52-year-old man claimed years of verbal abuse from his 60-year-old neighbour took its toll, before escalating into a physical stoush involving metal bars and a hammer. Here’s how it happened.

Years of bad blood between neighbours culminated in a hammer versus metal bar fight which left both men with injuries, Toowoomba Magistrates Court has been told.

Cameron John Guppy, 52, had for years been taunted by his neighbours who regularly called him names and made derogatory comments toward him, his solicitor Julia Molloy told the court on Thursday.

After eight years of living at the unit and copping the abuse, her client had “snapped”, she said.

Police prosecutor Cameron Francis told the court Guppy lived in a unit complex on Hume St next door to the 60-year-old complainant man.

About 2.20am on February 27, Guppy had walked to his neighbour’s unit saying “f--k you, f--k your gargoyles”, tapped on the screen door with a metal pole and called him outside.

Cameron John Guppy leaves Toowoomba Courthouse after being sentenced in Toowoomba Magistrates Court on June 8, 2023.

After picking up one of the complainant’s gargoyle garden ornaments and throwing it across the driveway, he returned to his unit but heard the complainant open his door and turned to see the complainant armed with a hammer, he said.

The pair then came to blows in the car park, the complainant initiating the battle when he struck Guppy to the elbow with the hammer prompting Guppy to return fire with the metal pole, striking him in the head, shoulder, legs and ribs, Mr Francis said.

Asking the complainant “Why do you say these things about me?”, Guppy then returned to his unit, he said.

Police called to the scene arrived to find a smashed gargoyle on the driveway and blood outside a unit door, Mr Francis told the court.

Toowoomba Courthouse

The complainant sustained abrasions and swelling to his face, a swollen knee and broken ribs, Mr Francis told the court.

Ms Molloy, of Skuse Graham Lawyers, said her client had been a disability pensioner since he was 34 as a result of a bone condition.

Guppy had trouble sleeping and the walls of the units were quite thin and he could hear the other people, she said.

Her client had no criminal history at all and entered early pleas of guilty to the charges which included assault occasioning bodily harm while armed and wilful damage.

Ms Molloy said her client and the complainant still lived next door to other but there had been no further incidents.

Magistrate Louise Shephard said she accepted this incident was out of character for Guppy and that this was “the straw that broke the camel’s back”.

Ms Shephard said she also accepted this was a consensual fight but that Guppy’s reaction had been “disproportionate”.

Guppy was convicted and placed on 18 months probation.

Originally published as Cameron John Guppy faces Toowoomba Magistrates Court for assault on neighbour