Decorated naval veteran Matthew Yaxley assaulted 13yo at Rockdale skatepark

The Banksia navy serviceman detained a boy after he was told the incorrect information by an inexperienced police officer.

A navy veteran of 20 years made a “citizen’s arrest” of a 13-year-old boy based on the incorrect advice from an inexperienced police officer, a court has heard.

Banksia’s Matthew Yaxley, 46, was a decorated member of the Royal Australian Navy who was injured while serving his country but on Wednesday he pleaded guilty to a charge of common assault against a child.

A magistrate in Sutherland Local Court labelled the case “most unusual” adding she had never seen a set of circumstances like it in all her years on the bench before she dismissed the charge.

In agreed facts tendered to court, a relative of Yaxley was at the skate bowl in Bicentennial Park in Rockdale on November 2, last year when a 13-year-old picked up what he thought was an abandoned scooter and hid it.

The boy and his friends took it to a nearby trail and started dismantling it.

Yaxley’s relative approached the group, who he did not know, and told them it was his scooter.

The group of friends fixed the scooter and returned it.

Matthew Yaxley, a navy veteran, made a citizen's arrest of a 13-year-old child who stole his relative’s scooter based on the incorrect instructions of a probationary constable. Picture: Ashleigh Tullis

Yaxley found out what had happened and immediately went to the park and confronted the group who were still skating before asking them who stole the scooter.

Yaxley called St George Police Station and told a probationary constable there were children at the skate park stealing and dismantling scooters.

The officer told Yaxley a job would be logged in the system and other police would attend but could not say when they would arrive.

The officer told Yaxley to place the child under a citizen’s arrest and to bring him to the police station, adding that if the boy became aggressive Yaxley was to hold him until police arrived.

The child attempted to run away prompting Yaxley to grab him by the T-shirt, causing small rips before he grabbed the child by the wrist and started pulling him towards the car park.

The child grabbed a metal guard rail in an attempt to stop being dragged away but Yaxley kept pulling him and the boy fell to the ground a number of times.

Bystanders and the boy’s friend spoke to Yaxley to try to resolve the situation because the boy was distressed and crying to be let go.

Yaxley held onto the child’s wrist for about three minutes before he let go and the child sat on the ground.

Police arrived a short time later at about 6.40pm and spoke to Yaxley and the boy’s father who was also at the park.

Yaxley told the officers the advice he had been given to make a citizen’s arrest, but was then informed the information he had been given was incorrect.

Officers reviewed footage of the incident from witnesses and said in detaining the child he was “excessive and not lawful”.

Yaxley was later charged with common assault.

In Sutherland Local Court on Wednesday, Yaxley’s lawyer said her client was only acting on the advice of a police officer and was operating under the assumption it was lawful.

She said Yaxley was a person of exceptional good character after being in the navy for 15 years and then in the reserves for a further five years.

She said he now held a job with “extremely high responsibility”, had received awards for his service in Iraq and the Solomon Islands and was injured while serving Australia.

Yaxley had also sought psychological treatment for issues he had from his time in the navy and the lawyer noted he was a trusted father and neighbour, often looking after other children.

“His navy service has instilled a sense of justice in him,” she said.

The lawyer noted Yaxley’s training and service meant he followed orders from those in authority.

Magistrate Jennifer Atkinson took into account Yaxley’s no prior convictions and his references spoke highly of him.

“His reactions were not unusual given the circumstances of his training and it is not surprising he implemented what he was told to do by a police officer,” she said.

Magistrate Atkinson noted the child was only detained for a short period of time and Yaxley was not likely to be back before the court before the charge was dismissed.