Extraordinary moment neighbourhood feud reaches boiling point as man makes unbelievable threat with a garden tool
A neighbourhood dispute over a fence line turned violent when a disgruntled resident allegedly threatened the other with a circular saw.
Garnet Mae, a 52-year-old director, filmed an extraordinary exchange between him and his 63-year-old neighbour at their Redfern terraces in Sydney’s inner south last Tuesday.
The ownership of a laneway at the back has been a source of ongoing tension since Mr Mae moved into the unit five years ago.
While he and his brother own the majority of the laneway, they had given up on asking the elderly neighbour to avoid planting greenery throughout the space.
‘It started off fairly civil and then, obviously, deteriorated,’ Mr Mae told Daily Mail Australia.
‘He seemed very rude and almost bullying the whole time, because that is a common laneway.’
Tensions between the residents reached a boiling point when the elderly neighbour allegedly blocked access to Mr Mae’s bin with a temporary fence.
Mr Mae then filmed himself moving the wire fencing and began chopping a rosebush on his property with his circular saw.
Garnet Mae (left) was allegedly assaulted by a 63-year-old neighbour (right) last Tuesday
The neighbours had been locked in a battle for several years over their shared fence line
Shocking footage showed the neighbour approaching Mr Mae before yelling ‘I will take your f***ing head off’ and allegedly grabbing the electric saw off him.
Mr Mae stayed calm as the neighbour allegedly pushed him around the outside space and struggled for the saw.
‘Hands off the f***ing property, otherwise I’ll do you in,’ the neighbour yelled. ‘You have no right, you have no right here.
‘Let’s turn the f**king thing (saw) on.’
Mr Mae then told the neighbour ‘that’s enough’.
‘That’s not enough,’ the 63-year-old yelled back. ‘Good on you, mate.’
Police did not arrest the neighbour but confirmed he was later charged with common assault
The neighbour banged Mr Mae against a wall with one hand and held the saw in his other, yelling ‘get off my f**king place’.
When Mr Mae warned the neighbour he was being filmed, the angry man shot back: ‘I don’t care what the camera says.’
‘Get off my f**king property,’ he said. ‘You’re an idiot – you don’t know what you’re talking about.’
Officers from the South Sydney Police Area Command were called to the scene and interviewed Mr Mae and the neighbour.
NSW Police confirmed officers had charged Mr Mae’s neighbour, 63, with common assault.
Mr Mae was left feeling ‘frustrated’ officers didn’t attempt to temporarily remove the neighbour to de-escalate the situation following the alleged assault.
‘You know if the situation had been reversed they wouldn’t feel bad about chucking me in jail,’ he said.
‘I didn’t have any serious injuries but no-one deserves to be (allegedly) physically assaulted when they’re trying to access their own property, which someone’s tried to squirrel away for years.’
The neighbour is due to appear before Downing Centre Local Court on January 13, 2025.
