A dispute over a wire gate led to a woman assaulting her female neighbour as well as sending a barrage of threatening text messages. Theresa Mary Williams, 57, pleaded guilty to five charges including one count of common assault when she faced Townsville Magistrate Court last month. The court heard the neighbours share adjoining Bushland Beach properties, and the tension began to brew in 2017 after Williams’ neighbours extended their home bringing the boundaries closer. Police prosecutor Darren Casson said the victim wanted to make changes to the gate which infuriated Williams. She said “over my dead body you’re going to wire up the gate” before grabbing the neighbour’s arm, and pulling it through the fence, causing grazing and pain. Mr Casson said police who attended the scene breath tested Williams who was found to be “highly intoxicated”. Williams was given watch house bail, which she would go on to breach twice by making contact with her victim. Mr Casson said malicious text messages were still being sent last year. “You think this is over, think again,” a message read. Defence lawyer Tracy Brown said following the dispute, the neighbour’s partner contacted the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency to report Williams and her husband who are both registered nurses. “This resulted in a lot of vexatious reports about Ms Williams which resulted in a lengthy investigation by AHPRA and subsequently increased distress,” Ms Brown said. “Placing Ms William’s job as a registered nurse in jeopardy …. which took some time to investigate. “Complaints were fruitless …. and baseless.” Ms Brown said the future of Williams’ employment as a nurse at the Townsville Hospital and in Australia was dependant on whether or not a conviction was recorded.
