Thursday 4 August 2022 06:04 PM Moment retired police officer grabs neighbour's neck and holds him down in row ... trends now

A retired policeman who grabbed his neighbour around the neck when a garden boundary dispute turned ugly has been convicted of assault.

Nicholas Williams, 67, who is thought to have served in Nottinghamshire Police before he and his wife Elvina moved to Weymouth, found Peter Laver, 73, in his back garden inspecting a new 6ft fence the defendant had put up.

Ms Williams shouted at their 73-year-old neighbour to 'get off my land' to which he replied: 'I'm allowed to be here.'

The defendant, incensed, ran down the patio steps of his detached home on Chafeys Avenue in Weymouth, Dorset, and chased Mr Laver to the bottom of the garden.

He then held Mr Laver over a wire fence while shouting at him for several seconds until neighbours ran over to separate them.

Magistrates' heard there had been tensions between the two men for at least six months before things boiled over on the afternoon of June 6.

Mr Laver maintained he had a right to access the rear of his neighbour's property according to a legal covenant attached to the deeds of his property, which he bought 13 years ago. It is thought this related to maintaining drainage pipes that ran into the Williams' garden.

The feud is said to have escalated when a flower bed behind Mr Laver's garage was built, causing Mr Laver concerns that it could lead to flooding in his garage where he keeps his Mercedes car.