Hay River (July 16/01) - A vigilante logger got off easy for clear-cutting a stand of trees which bordered his property in Enterprise.

In an unusual case, which the trial judge called a "waste of this court's time," Karl Mueller, 72, was found guilty of mischief and fined $10 for knocking down his neighbour's trees with a backhoe.

The Hay River Territorial Court heard last Monday that Mueller used a backhoe to reach over his fence April 12 and knocked down between "six and 18" poplar trees in Laurie and Gerry Erker's forested lot.

Represented by his wife, Anne Leskiw, Mueller gave a number of reasons why he had it in for the trees: the nuisance of leaves falling into their yard, frustration with root suckers damaging their lawn, worries about fire, and fears that a tree could fall on their house.

Mueller said he had been trying for years to persuade the Erkers to cut down some of their trees, and one windy day, Mueller decided he'd had enough.

Ironically, a tree expert testified that the knocked-down trees were likely to send out even more root suckers than the standing trees.

Mueller could have been on the hook for thousands in punitive damages, but he was only given a slap on the wrist because judge Robert Halifax ruled Mueller had not received his trial documents in adequate time.

Nevertheless, Halifax reprimanded Mueller, saying he should have used other avenues, like the civil court system, to address his frustrations.

"You just can't be going onto other people's property with your machine and knocking down their trees - it's that simple."