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Picture by Richard Crease

David Rae arrives at court.

First it was Watergate, then Plebgate... Now it's Watering-gate!

An OAP has been found guilty of assault after he floored his frail 86-year-old neighbour with a single punch to the head in a petty row about how to water hanging baskets.

David Rae, 68, went for his former friend Stanley Smith "with fists flying" after finding him watering the flowers outside the sheltered housing block they both live at with a hosepipe rather than a sprinkler nozzle.

Mr Smith, who has two metal knee replacements and walks with a stick, hit a lamppost and a bench as he was knocked to the ground in the attack, which has been dubbed Watering-gate.

Disgruntled neighbours had previously written to Rae telling him "You are not Alan Titchmarsh" after getting fed up with his constant complaining about how the communal garden at the complex in Bournemouth, Dorset, was being kept.