Nathan James Hinschen had just returned home late at night from work when he was confronted by the noise.

The party back on January 14 had been organised by a 16-year-old for his Dick Road home, which backed on to Hinschen’s house.

Magistrate Chris McRobert told Hinschen in Albury Local Court that he understood why he was aggrieved by party-goers’ refusal to quieten down.

But instead of grabbing the bat and returning to the party, Mr McRobert told him, he should have simply gone inside his own home, called the police and waited until they arrived.

Defence solicitor Mark Cronin said Hinschen was not trying to shy away from taking responsibility for what he had done, but nevertheless was “just trying to protect his family”.

Mr McRobert noted how Hinschen, 41, had been given a community service order – involving 30 hours of unpaid work – in 2015 for a similar offence.

“Do we need to address anger management issues here?” Mr McRobert asked Mr Cronin regarding his client.

Mr Cronin said that was not needed, given his “spontaneous” reaction to “the behaviour of others on both occasions”.

Police told the court that the teenagers’ party had become quite noisy by around midnight.

Hinschen went to the back fence and asked them to quieten down, but in response objects such as bottles were thrown in his direction.

“In particular, the victim threw a bottle at the defendant, which nearly hit him,” police said.

“As a result, the defendant has entered his house and retrieved a small softball bat and gone to the front of the premises where the party was being conducted.”

The victim became aggressive towards Hinschen, who struck him on the left shoulder, leaving a large bruise.

Hinschen was convicted and placed on a community service order to do 150 hours of work, after pleading guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm.