A man who punched and injured the shoulder of his 73-year-old neighbour, because the elderly man yelled at his dog, has been told there was no justification for the assault.
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Andrew Primrose, 56, appeared in Wodonga Magistrates Court this week to plead guilty to the assault on April 15.
The court heard the victim initially fought back after being punched in the face and the brawl lasted less than four minutes before Primrose pulled up the victim's arm and injured the ligaments in his shoulder.
Primrose's defence barrister Sally Wilson said her client had snapped after the victim repeatedly yelled at his dog.
"He agrees it shouldn't have happened," she said.
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"This had been brewing for a long time.
"His dog had been upset by his neighbour walking past and yelling many times per day, he said unnecessarily."
Magistrate David Faram placed Primrose on a 12-month community corrections order, with the condition to complete 100 hours of unpaid work or treatment.
He said the assault was "grossly unacceptable", especially because it led to an injury on a man in his 70s, and no blame should be put onto the victim.
"It was a significant and grossly inappropriate reaction to a situation involving your dog," he said.
"It's not to be tolerated in any circumstances, ever."
The prosecutor said although Primrose expressed his remorse to the police, he had not apologised to the victim.
Mr Faram said if an assault occurred again, Primrose would be sent to jail.
