Disgraced plumber faces court over neighbourhood sewage clash

Disgraced plumber Jason Aboukalam is in hot water again, this time fronting court on an assault charge.

Aboukalam gained notoriety for allegedly charging elderly customers exorbitant amounts.

He allegedly charged an 82-year-old man suffering from dementia a $212,000 bill to lay new pipe when a rival plumber quoted just $15,000 for the same job.

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Police have now charged Aboukalam with assault causing actual bodily harm after he clashed with his neighbour William Fredericks over a raw sewage problem.

Fredericks told Sydney's Sutherland Court that Aboukalam's house had been leaking sewage onto his property for a year and attempts to resolve the problem had failed.

A frustrated Fredericks said he collected a bucket of the effluent and knocked on Aboukalam's door.

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CCTV vision presented to the court showed Aboukalam striking Fredericks to the side of the head, sending him tumbling across the driveway.

Aboukalam pleaded not guilty and claimed he acted in self-defence.

The banned plumber was accompanied at court by four large men dressed in black, wearing wraparound sunglasses and COVID-19 masks.

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A policeman instructed the group to leave the area where a key witness in the case was sitting.

NSW Fair Trading stripped Aboukalam of his contractor licence in 2021 following numerous reports by A Current Affair about him overcharging customers.

The 30-year-old declined to comment when he left court after a magistrate adjourned the case until next February.