Neighbour caught in bitter legal row after man 'sprayed next door's son with a hose'

A legal row has erupted after a millionaire neighbour was accused of spraying a homeowner's son with a hose.

Marie Barter and Joshua and Michelle Theunissen are locked into a dispute over the right to a shared terrace space on top of a home in Australia.

Barter took her neighbour to the New South Wales Supreme Court to seek a "declaration" that her neighbours do not have the sole use of the terrace.

Footage emerged of an argument between Barter and the Theunissens' teenage son Matt over a stray basketball in Mosman, Sydney.

Person spraying a hose

During the video, Matt can be heard asking Barter if he can collect his ball from "her" side of the shared driveway.

She responds saying: "No, because this is our private property, you're not allowed to come on it. It's not your area."

Matt replies: "So you're saying I can't walk a metre to get my basketball."

Barter then says: "No, because you're not allowed to come on our property, we've put it in writing to you. If our car was here it would have damaged it. That would have been a massive bill."

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The 17-year-old disagrees and states that if the ball had landed with any impact it would be further down the driveway.

As he attempts to retrieve the ball, he claims his neighbour sprayed him with her hose after he turned his back.

Theunissen said her son's back was "quite wet" when he returned home and her neighbour had called the police accusing him of trespassing.

Last week Justice Mark Richmond ruled in Barter's favour, saying that she should have reasonable use of the terrace as it was on her rooftop as long as she didn't "substantially interfere" with her neighbours' use of the space.

The Theunissens family are set to appeal the decision, with Barter seeking compensation in legal costs of up to $200,000.

Rows of houses

The court heard that Barter can access the shared rooftop through a skylight and stair ladder while the Theunissen's can access it via glass sliding doors at the back of their home.

On another occasion, Theunissen and his wife rang the police after claiming that Barter and her partner were "unlawfully intruding" on the terrace.

They also alleged that Barter's partner had assaulted Theunissen.

Justice Richmond ultimately ruled that the rooftop was a shared space.

His judgement stated: "There is no reason in principle why each of them could not use the rooftop area for that purpose as it is sufficiently large for each to be able to enjoy it without unreasonably interfering with the use by the other."