Andrew Skyrme pleads guilty in Southport court to ‘accidental’ assault on neighbour

A Gold Coast dad who left his neighbour needing thousands of dollars in dental repairs claims the assault was unintentional. Read the full story here and court case outcome.

A GOLD Coast man who knocked out his neighbour’s dentures during an argument has blamed poor health and a noisy tradie for the assault.

Tensions built between Andrew Mark Skyrme and his neighbour at their Runaway Bay unit complex on the morning of May 29 last year, when a tradie began water blasting the neighbour’s roof.

Southport Magistrates Court was told Skyrme started yelling and swearing at the tradie, complaining about the noise and debris being sprayed onto his house.

Skyrme, 54, tried to turn off the tradie’s equipment and refused his offers to clean up the mess.

Andrew Skyrme. Picture: Facebook/Andrew Skyrme

It was heard Skyrme then turned his anger on his neighbour, with the pair first arguing across their shared fence before moving outside the gate.

The other man put his face only inches from Skyrme’s during the argument, at which point Skyrme shoved him back and said: “Get out of my face or I’ll knock you the f**k out.”

Both men again stepped forwards, with Skyrme’s face striking the left side of his neighbour’s.

The court was told the impact knocked out the victim’s dental bridge and cracked a tooth the prosthetic was attached to. Its repair cost the man $2705.

Defence lawyer Lisa Searing said Skyrme, a father of two born in England, spent 12 years in the country’s Royal Navy before moving to Australia.

She said Skyrme suffered bronchitis for the week leading up to the run-in with his neighbour, with several nights of poor sleep heightening his reaction to the Sunday morning works he believed to be in breach of the complex’s bylaws.

“That’s why he lost his temper. He wasn’t feeling well, he wasn’t himself (and) reacted very poorly,” Ms Searing said.

“The hit to the face was not intentional or deliberate – it’s unfortunately the consequences of the behaviour.”

Ms Searing told the court the recruitment company owner was keen to put the “embarrassment” of the incident behind him, and would soon move into a new home.

Skyrme pleaded guilty to one count of assault occasioning bodily harm.

He was fined $400 and ordered to pay $2705 in restitution to his victim. No conviction was recorded.