A Victorian magistrate who assaulted his neighbour in a dispute over dog faeces has been fined and placed on good behaviour bonds for two years.

Raffaele Barberio, 60, was this afternoon fined $7500 after admitting he assaulted his neighbour and took a key to his victim's prestige car.

Earlier, the court heard Barberio “just snapped” when his neighbour challenged him about failing to pick up his dog's faeces.

Barberio was suffering a delayed response to the death of his mother and experiencing enormous stress when the incident occurred, defence lawyer Robert Richter, QC, told the Moorabbin Magistrates Court in a criminal hearing this morning.

Barberio was charged after scuffling with his neighbour over a threat to throw dog faeces and, on a later occasion, using a key to cause $9000 damage to the victims' car, a gold Range Rover with personalised number plates.