Part-time cleaner, Andrew James Farnham, 54, sentenced to suspended jail term for seriously assaulting an older female neighbour in Trinity Park

A part-time cleaner assaulted a woman and broke her finger in an “acrimonious” neighbourhood dispute in Trinity Park, a court has heard.

Andrew James Farnham, 54, pleaded guilty to serious assault.

An ongoing neighbourhood dispute in Trinity Park turned violent when a 54-year-old man assaulted his older female neighbour, breaking her finger, a Cairns court has been told.

Part-time cleaner, Andrew James Farnham, 54, pleaded guilty before Magistrate Mandy Bowen on Monday to one count of serious assault of a person over 60 and to committing a public nuisance over the December 22, 2023, incident in Trinity Park.

Magistrate Bowen described the man’s taunts before the incident as “awful language coming from you to an older woman”, and recapped details from the police report, which said Farnham had taken off his shirt and repeatedly flicked the woman with it before assaulting her.

“I can see there is ongoing conflict between yourself and the victim,” Ms Bowen said, who accepted the assault was generally “out of character” for Farnham.

“She told you to go away and leave her alone and then you punched her … she has suffered a broken finger.”

In statements tendered to the court by police prosecutor Krystal Armstrong-Waters, the victim described her shock at being assaulted and said she had to attend a clinic on multiple occasions for treatment of the injury.

The court heard the victim suffered a broken finger.

Defence barrister James Sheridan said the assault happened amid an acrimonious neighbourhood dispute.

He said the man was a father of three who worked part time as a cleaner despite a longstanding back injury.

He said Farnham had pleaded guilty early and was remorseful for his actions.

Ms Bowen sentenced Farnham to six months imprisonment, wholly suspended for 12 months, on the serious assault charge and convicted Farnham but did not further punish him on the public nuisance charge, which related to the language used against his neighbour.

Originally published as Part-time cleaner, Andrew James Farnham, 54, sentenced to suspended jail term for seriously assaulting an older female neighbour in Trinity Park