By Rachael clifford and Claire Ottaviano
A 45-year-old Broome man has avoided jail after cable-tying and detaining three young children in an incident that made national headlines.
Mat Radelic claimed he made a citizen’s arrest of the children, aged six, seven and eight, in March this year after finding them in the backyard swimming pool of a vacant home he was in the process of selling.
Mat Radelic was found guilty of two counts of assault after he cabled tied three children he alleged were trespassing in March.Credit: 9 News Perth (composite image)
On Friday, the court found Radelic guilty of two counts of common assault in circumstances of aggravation or racial aggravation, but acquitted him of a third charge and awarded legal costs of $5500.
Radelic was handed $1000 fines for each of the two charges, which were suspended for 12 months, meaning unless he reoffends he will not have to pay.
During his one-day trial on September 12, Radelic’s lawyer Seamus Rafferty told Broome Magistrates Court his client had made four complaints to police in the preceding three weeks over property damage he believed had been perpetrated by those children, leaving him “frustrated”.
Speaking in a Broome court on Friday, Magistrate Deen Potter said, while Radelic told police he was beyond frustration, he was satisfied the accused made an “in the moment” decision.
Potter also said Radelic must have looked “like a giant” to the restrained children, and that holding them for up to 37 minutes was an “unreasonable” use of force.
“In those circumstances, there must become a point in time any reasonable person would make the assessment that the use of cable ties was not required,” he said.
Potter said while there were no physical markings on the children, indicating they weren’t tightly bound, it was an “inescapable fact” that the children were in distress at the time of the incident.
Rafferty said the length of time the children were detained was not his client’s fault, with the delayed police response exacerbating the incident.
The children were detained using cable ties.Credit: 9NEWS PERTH
“His life has been ruined by this incident,” Rafferty said.
“He was the victim of repeated trespass… this was simply a person who was trying to do the right thing.”
In his sentencing remarks the Magistrate said there would be no winners out of the proceedings, with the incident having a devastating effect on the children’s families.
The incident made headlines after a passerby live-streamed their interaction with Radelic during the incident.
“They were frightened ... they were crying, shaking and singing out for their mum,” Leandra McKenzie told 9 News Perth at the time.
“We were yelling at him to tell him to release them ... but he just wouldn’t give up.”
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