Police move to ‘restore calm’ following recent rioting, unrest in Wadeye

POLICE say they are working at ‘restoring calm’ after a series of disturbances in a remote community in the Top End.

Police have charged five men with taking part in a riot in Wadeye.

POLICE say they are working at “restoring calm” in Wadeye after a series of disturbances in the remote community on the Top End’s west coast.

Officers have charged five men with taking part in a riot, with a sixth due to be charged with assault, causing serious harm and recklessly endangering life following recent “community unrest”.

Superintendent Tanya Woodcock said the community had been “under significant duress due to the actions of a relatively small group of residents”, but following the arrests the clean-up would now begin.

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“These people will now be held accountable and through continued engagement with residents, we can look forward to restoring calm to the community,” she said.

“We’ll be working with the community members, particularly those in the areas affected by the recent events, to clear the roads and help residents clean their yards. This will go a long way toward repairing the amenity and safety of the community.

“These arrests are the culmination of some great work by local police officers and inter-agency co-operation.”

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The arrests come after a man was shot in the foot with a crossbow during a nasty altercation in the early hours of Wednesday morning and a house fire two weeks ago police described as suspicious.

Investigations into those incidents are ongoing.

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