Neighbour dispute sees man wielding an axe on the Black Isle
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A dispute between neighbours ended in bloodshed when one man was struck on the arm with an axe, Inverness Sheriff Court heard.
Inverness Sheriff Court heard that 51-year-old Philip Gallagher of 44 Ormonde Terrace, Avoch on the Black Isle caused a small cut on the arm of the man who lived next door to him.
Fiscal depute Robert Weir told Sheriff Sara Matheson: "It was about 7.15pm on January 26 this year when the occupants of number 45 went outside to move a bin and have a cigarette.
"The accused was also outside and a verbal altercation ensued. Then he (Gallagher) went into his house and came out with an axe. He was swinging it around and it struck his neighbour's arm.
"The axe was wrestled from the accused and police were called."
Defence solicitor Rory Gowans told the court: "There is a background here."
He asked Sheriff Matheson to obtain a background report "to get the full picture."
Sentence was deferred until September 7.
