Christian Edwin Wenzel in Gold Coast court for allegedly hitting neighbour Pamela Fisher outside Paradise Point home
A father who was accused of striking his neighbour with a wheelie bin in an affluent Gold Coast suburb has learned his fate in court. FIND OUT THE RESULT.
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A father who was accused of striking his neighbour with a wheelie bin in an affluent Gold Coast suburb has been found not guilty of assault.
Christian Edwin Wenzel was alleged to have used a wheelie bin as a “battering ram” against his neighbour Pamela Fisher on July 6, 2020, as part of a long-running neighbourhood dispute.
Mr Wenzel’s defence lawyer Bill Potts said Ms Fisher’s evidence against his client was “utter garbage” from the beginning.
In handing down the verdict in Southport Magistrates Court on Friday, Magistrate Mark Howden said Ms Fisher had “waged a vendetta” against Mr Wenzel over many years.
Magistrate Howden accepted the evidence of Mr Wenzel and his wife that Ms Fisher yelled: “I’m glad your father’s dead” to Mr Wenzel just before the bin dispute.
In comparison, he found Ms Fisher to be “evasive and vague”.
Magistrate Howden described CCTV footage which captured the altercation as “critical” evidence.
“(Mr Wenzel) had been abused and insulted on this day by (Ms Fisher),” he said.
“He did not intend to strike (Ms Fisher) with the bin, but did so after the bin hit the curb.
“At this point in time he was deprived of the power of self-control.
“In my view there had not been time for his passion to cool.
“His actions were not disproportionate and the subsequent injuries to (Ms Fisher) were of a minor nature.”
Magistrate Howden said he found Mr Wenzel not guilty of assaulting a person over 60 because the prosecution was unable to exclude the defence of provocation beyond a reasonable doubt.
Mr Wenzel’s defence lawyer Bill Potts described it as an “excellent result”.
“Ms Fisher attempted to trash my client’s good name and reputation, rubbish his father’s memory, and her evidence was found to be utter garbage by the magistrate,” Mr Potts said.
“(Her) actions have been nothing short of a concerted campaign of harassment and vindictiveness.
“Our client merely hopes she will learn from this experience and not commit further offences.”
Mr Potts said Mr Wenzel had been “forced to flee” the affluent suburb of Paradise Point as a result of the eight-year “neighbourhood war”.
“Any ordinary person would clearly have been provoked in this situation. Her behaviour was nothing short of disgusting,” he said.
The court was previously told that there had been “an extraordinary history of complainants” between Mr Wenzel and Ms Fisher, including through the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal and the Queensland Building and Construction Commission.
Ms Fisher had been convicted of assaulting Wenzel on a previous occasion and had taken him to QCAT so many times that she had been described as a “vexatious litigant”.
Family subjected to ‘psychological warfare’ before wheelie bin feud - May 24
A family at the centre of a wheelie bin feud in an affluent Gold Coast street were subjected to “psychological warfare”, it was alleged in court.
Christian Edwin Wenzel’s trial in the Southport Magistrates Court for one charge of assault of a person over 60 continued on Tuesday.
Wenzel is accused of striking his neighbour Pamela Fisher about 8am on July 6, 2020 outside their Paradise Point homes.
He allegedly used a wheelie bin as a “battering ram” as part of a long-running row between neighbours in Excalibur Crt.
The man broke down in court while describing how his family had been affected by the eight-year dispute with Ms Fisher.
“They’ve taken our family years away from us,” a visibly distressed Wenzel told the court.
He alleged Ms Fisher had set up security cameras to spy on his family and verbally threatened his children.
Wenzel alleged Ms Fisher yelled “I’m glad your father’s dead. He deserved to die.” just before the wheelie bin altercation.
Ms Fisher denied making the comments about Wenzel’s father.
The court heard evidence from Wenzel and his wife Karina on Tuesday.
The trial was previously told that there had been “an extraordinary history of complainants” between Wenzel and Ms Fisher, including through the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal and the Queensland Building and Construction Commission.
Ms Fisher had been convicted of assaulting Wenzel on a previous occasion and had taken him to QCAT so many times that she had been described as a “vexatious litigant”, the trial was told.
Wenzel’s defence lawyer Bill Potts told the court of the emotional toll of the eight-year neighbourhood dispute.
“What is clear is that there has been, over a lengthy period of time, a souring of what was initially a good relationship into a neighbourhood war,” Mr Potts said.
“The defendant and his family have effectively - as they put it - been terrorised, made prisoners of their own house and been subject to psychological warfare on their description.”
CCTV footage of Excalibur Crt the morning of the alleged assault was played to the court again on Tuesday.
It showed Ms Fisher move Wenzel’s bin. Wenzel moved it back.
The footage shows Ms Fisher leaving her home and moving the bin again.
The footage then appears to show Ms Fisher kicking rubbish that had fallen from the bin back towards Wenzel’s home.
Wenzel came out to return the bins to their original spot.
It appears on the footage that Ms Fisher blocked Wenzel from moving them before the altercation started.
Magistrate Mark Howden adjourned the trial and will hand down his decision at a later date.
INITIAL MARCH 23: A neighbour used a wheelie bin as a “battering ram” as part of a long-running row in an affluent Gold Coast street, it was alleged in court.
Christian Edwin Wenzel is facing a trial in the Southport Magistrates Court for one charge of assault of a person over 60.
He is accused of striking his neighbour Pamela Fisher about 8am on July 6, 2020 outside their Paradise Point homes.
The trial is expected to take an entire day.
The court was told there had been “an extraordinary history of complainants” between the two, including through the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal and the Queensland Building and Construction Commission.
Police prosecutor Senior Constable Kim Murphy said five witnesses would be called.
Sen Const Murphy also asked for a screen to be placed to obscure Wenzel while Ms Fisher gave evidence.
Magistrate Mark Howden denied the request unless Ms Fisher began to show distress.
Neighbour Norman Anderson-Bell told the court he saw Wenzel use a wheelie bin as a “battering ram” to push into Ms Fisher.
Mr Anderson-Bell said he was backing out of his Sovereign Island home at the time.
“It looked pretty violent … it was in fact violent,” he said.
“I got out of the car and intervened.”
Mr Anderson-Bell said he suggested the bin be placed at another neighbour’s home, where the bin space was not being used.
He said that was when Ms Fisher said the bin was being pushed against her.
“I could see he was using it as a battering ram,” he said.
Mr Bell said Ms Fisher was “trying to defend herself and her car”.
CCTV footage of Excalibur Court the morning of the alleged assault was played to the court. It showed Ms Fisher move Wenzel’s bin.
Wenzel moved it back.
The footage shows Ms Fisher leaving her home and moving the bin again.
The footage then appears to show Ms Fisher kicking rubbish that had fallen from the bin back towards Wenzel’s home.
Wenzel came out to return the bins to their original spot.
It appears on the footage that Ms Fisher blocked Wenzel from moving them.
It is then the altercation starts.
Mr Anderson-Bell said he was aware that Ms Fisher had been convicted of assaulting Wenzel on a previous occasion.
He said he was also aware that Ms Fisher had taken Wenzel to QCAT so many times she had been described as a “vexatious litigant”.
The court was told that the day after the incident Wenzel wrote to Mr Anderson-Bell apologising that he had to “witness the fracas”.
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