A MAN hit his flatmate on the arm with a hammer to “scare him” following a dispute about their communal kitchen, a court heard.
Matthew Gallagher, 35, of York Place, Newport was found guilty of common assault using excessive force on March 16, following an alteraction with Christopher Thomas, in shared accommodation in Newport.
Phil Pott, defending, told the court that after initially being friendly towards each other, Gallagher felt his neighbour was taking advantage of him.
On Jan 7, Mr Thomas entered Mr Gallagher’s room and repeatedly refused to leave.
When Mr Thomas headed towards the door, he turned round and lunged at the defendent, who struck him on the arm with the hammer from a toolbox, in what he called, self defence.
Mr Pott said that Gallagher felt his room was his “sanctuary” and increasingly felt threatened by Mr Thomas’ behaviour towards him.
He asked the chairwoman of the bench, Veronica Crick, to take into account that Mr Gallagher’s landlord had supplied a positive reference about him and that he is training to become a driving instructor, and feared that a sentence would damage his prospects.
After considering this evidence, Mr Gallagher was given a conditional discharge for 12 months and ordered to pay £85 costs.
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