Ronald White: Mildura man bashes father in law for eating his pickles

A Mildura man headbutted his father-in-law because he didn’t want to share his pickles. But conceded his reaction was “a bit much”.

A pickle jar was at the centre of a Mildura assault.

A Mildura man conceded “it was a bit much over a pickle jar” when he got into a brawl with his father-in-law after he asked if he could have one.

Ronald White, 31, pleaded guilty to one charge of unlawful assault on Wednesday at Mildura Magistrates’ Court.

A police prosecutor said White was living with his partner and her father at a Mildura house when the incident happened on March 16.

The court was told a verbal argument started because White didn’t want to share his pickles and ended with White standing over his victim and headbutting him.

The victim headbutted White back and the brawl continued outside.

The victim sustained a cut above the eyebrow and was bleeding.

“I boil pickles and cook them up and put them in a jar,” White told the court.

“I opened the jar and took some pickles and he slammed my hands in it … because he threw boiling water at me, I lashed out and I backhanded him.”

White said he was on the dole, had an intellectual disability and no longer lived with the father-in-law.

“It was a bit much over a pickle jar,” he conceded.

White had initially sought to contest the matter, but opted to plead guilty after Magistrate Michael Coghlan gave a sentence indication of a $500 fine.

“I’ll take the $500,” White said.

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