A MECHANIC accused of injuring a tree surgeon with a chainsaw in a row over a boundary hedge, said: "I wanted to frighten him. I didn't want to harm him."

Jurors have heard how trouble flared when neighbour James Dyson, 51, returned from a funeral and found the hedgerow planted by his father had been axed to make way for the redevelopment on an adjacent site.

Dyson hurled fencing posts and bunting onto a bonfire and then grabbed the chainsaw from the rear of a pick-up truck. He then threw it at a nearside window.

Dyson then picked the machine off the floor and wielded it like "a mad man" before it stalled.

Southampton Crown Court heard when tree surgeon Kevin Herridge, 32, tried to disarm him, Dyson frantically tried to restart it.

The men then got involved in a struggle and Mr Herridge suffered cuts to his left arm and leg. He also needed an operation on a finger.

Dyson admitted he wanted Mr Herridge and the other tree surgeons off his property. He claimed they "laughed and joked" about the hedgerow and he grabbed the machine to confiscate it.

He said Mr Herridge shouted, "If you touch my chainsaws, I'll kill you.'"

Another tree surgeon threw something at him which struck the chainsaw, causing it to go down and strike the vehicle.

Dyson said he clutched the chainsaw in both hands and told them to back off. "I just wanted to frighten him off. I didn't want to harm him."

He said Mr Herridge punched him in the face, causing the chainsaw to move upwards. However, he claimed he didn't know if it struck Mr Herridge.

Dyson, who claimed he had to defend himself as Mr Herridge and the other tree surgeons attacked him, denied charges of wounding with intent and unlawful wounding, as well as causing damage.

Jurors unable to reach a verdict yesterday were resuming their deliberations today.

Proceeding.