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Myf Warhurst has become entangled in a chaotic war with her neighbour as a dispute over a fence spiralled out of control.
The ABC television presenter and her next-door neighbour, Karla Martinez, clashed over a concrete wall being built between their homes in North Warrandyte, near Melbourne.
Warhurst and her then-boyfriend, architect Brian Steendyk, objected to a section of the construction, claiming it encroached onto their property.
The stoush erupted on December 28, 2022, when Steendyk took a chainsaw to a 26m area of the dividing fence, reported The Australian on Wednesday.
The trio clashed, with calls made to Triple O and Steendyk alleging Martinez struck him on the head with a piece of agricultural pipe.
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Myf Warhurst (pictured) has become entangled in a chaotic war with her neighbour as a dispute over a fence spiralled out of control
'Without warning I felt a sharp whack to my face, head and back,' Steendyk's witness statement said.
'The force of this whack threw my glasses from my head, and tore skin from the bridge of my nose.'
'Stunned, I stepped back from the fence and looked up to see Karla Martinez with a long agricultural drainage pipe in her hand standing over where I had just been crouched down and yelling obscenities to me.'
Officers from nearby Eltham police station arrived on the scene, with Martinez initially charged with assaulting Steendyk.
Dramatic footage of the aftermath of the argument was recorded by police body-worn cameras.
However, the matter was dismissed by the police prosecutor before it was due to be heard in court.
'Everything started out friendly enough and I even went over and brought her a bottle of wine to welcome her to the neighbourhood,' Martinez told The Australian.
'But all hell broke loose as soon as they found out we were going to start constructing a concrete wall along the property line.
The ABC television presenter and her next-door neighbour, Karla Martinez (right), clashed over a concrete wall being built between their homes in North Warrandyte, near Melbourne
The trio clashed, with calls made to Triple O and Steendyk alleging Martinez struck him on the head with a piece of agricultural pipe
Officers from nearby Eltham police station arrived on scene, with Martinez initially charged with assaulting Steendyk (pictured). However, the matter was dismissed by the police prosecutor before it was due to be heard in court
Dramatic footage of the aftermath of the argument was recorded by police body-worn cameras
'Brian grabbed a chainsaw and a grinder and started demolishing the fence because he claimed it was on his property,' Martinez said
'She hated it – the wall, design, everything.'
Martinez says the heated argument came to a head when the couple objected to the location of a portion of the fence.
'Brian grabbed a chainsaw and a grinder and started demolishing the fence because he claimed it was on his property,' she said.
Martinez conceded that the boundary line of the fence did veer 'around 30cm' onto Warhurst's property.
Both sets of neighbours continued their war through legal means, with Martinez and Steendyk each taking out interim intervention orders (IVOs) against each other.
All charges relating to the case have since been dropped.
Martinez has also accused the ABC of showing 'bias' in an article on the clash that was published on the ABC website on May 5, 2024. The article was later removed.
Martinez says she was identified by name, while Warhurst and Steendyk were not, with Warhurst instead described as an unnamed 'ABC contractor'.
Myf is best known for her hosting role on the ABC's long-running music quiz show Spicks and Specks
Warhurst has vehemently denied any involvement in the publication of the article.
Warhurst and Steendyk are believed to have separated since the clash.
When contacted for comment by Daily Mail Australia, an ABC spokesperson said: 'The ABC is assured it acted appropriately in this matter. Myf Warhurst had no involvement in publishing the story. Myf is highly valued by the ABC.'
Myf is best known for her hosting role on the ABC's long-running music quiz show Spicks and Specks.
