Man upset with being filmed by neighbour guilty of spitting assault
Three Frankston neighbours with an ongoing beef proved it’s not always wise to live within spitting distance of someone you don’t get along with — after one pleaded guilty to gobbing saliva on the others during a spat over being filmed in his garden.
South East
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A man who spat at his elderly neighbours in a dispute over being filmed while tending to his garden has been slammed as “disgusting”.
Darren Schmeisser, 49, pleaded guilty to unlawful assault at Frankston Magistrates’ Court last week.
The court heard Schmeisser and two men, aged about 68 and 70, who lived in his Frankston unit complex had an ongoing beef when things came to a head on November 8 last year.
Schmeisser was gardening when one of the men approached and started filming him on his phone.
The court heard he approached them in an aggressive manner and started a verbal argument while the filmer continued to record.
He lashed out with a broom before gobbing saliva at the men, which landed on their necks, before walking back to his unit.
Police were called, viewed the phone footage and interviewed Schmeisser, who said he spat because he didn’t like being filmed.
Schmeisser’s lawyer said while there had been problems between the neighbours for a while, there was no excuse for his behaviour.
He said Schmeisser felt provoked on that day, had become “quite agitated” and wasn’t thinking clearly due to anxiety and depression.
He said since the incident the disability support pensioner had been getting along with his neighbours and there had been no more friction between the parties.
Magistrate Rodney Crisp said it was obvious Schmeisser had a low tolerance threshold and should have just left the two men alone.
“It is disgusting; I would hate to subscribe to the view you can spit on people,” he said.
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Mr Crisp said some defendants falsely used anxiety and depression as a scapegoat for their crimes.
“Real depression makes people withdraw from society, I don’t correlate that to overt behaviour like this,” he said.
Mr Crisp said he was thinking a short jail sentence could be appropriate, especially because of his priors including assault, threat to kill and weapons carrying offences.
But, as Schmeisser was now getting along with his neighbours, Mr Crisp instead convicted and fined him $500.