A man accused of breaking into a Kings Meadows property and headbutting another man has pleaded not guilty.
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Peter Michael Kopper appeared in the Launceston Supreme Court on Monday for the first day of what is expected to be a two-day trial.
He has been charged with aggravated burglary and assault over the 2015 incident, which police allege involved Mr Kopper and a Kings Meadows resident.
Crown Prosecutor John Ranson delivered his opening statement to the jury, detailing the allegations against the accused.
Mr Ranson said the alleged victim was at his Hobart Road home on August 20 in 2015, when the alleged attack took place.
The alleged victim claimed Mr Kopper, a man he said he had known for “many years”, kicked in his front door and began assaulting him.
The court heard how the man was allegedly headbutted and punched multiple times in the face and chest, causing him to lose his footing and fall through a glass window and onto the front lawn of the home.
After failing to get help from passing drivers on Hobart Road, the man called his girlfriend who then contacted a friend that lived nearby.
Both the alleged victim’s girlfriend and friend arrived at the home and found a man there that they claimed to be the accused.
After the alleged assault, the Kings Meadows man was treated at the Launceston General Hospital for swelling, bruising and a cut to his lip.
In a police interview, Mr Kopper denied any act of violence, but admitted to going to the house that day.
Mr Ranson told the jury the defendant claimed to have gone to the man’s home to “warn him about spreading rumours” about a deceased friend.
The prosecution is expected to call on seven witnesses, including police officers, a Launceston General Hospital doctor who treated the complainant, the complainant and his girlfriend.
Mr Kopper’s defence counsel, Fran McCracken, did not make an opening statement.