Broome man charged after 'cable-tie' assault

WA Police have charged a 45-year-old man with three counts of aggravated assault after allegedly restraining three children with cable ties at a Broome home on Tuesday.

Officers were called to a Cable Beach street on Tuesday afternoon for a reported trespass incident.

Police allege the force used to restrain the children “was not proportionate in the circumstances”.

The man has been granted bail, and is expected to appear in court at a later date.

Photos circulating on social media showed two Indigenous children tied at the hands.

The children, confirmed as a six-year-old girl and a seven-year-old boy, were shown to be linked together at their wrists by cable ties.

Police said the third child, an eight-year-old boy, fled the scene before they arrived, but was later found.

The man had called police to report he had restrained the children for causing damage to his backyard, Acting Assistant Police Commissioner Rod Wilde said.

Paramedics conducted a check on the children who were then reunited with their families.

“Police are working closely with the affected families, and encourage community members to allow officers to thoroughly investigate the matter so that the full circumstances can be established,” a WA Police spokesman said.

Western Australian Premier Roger Cook described footage of the man allegedly restraining the children as “confronting” and “disturbing”.

The man has since told 9News his actions weren’t racially motivated and he saw it as a ‘citizen’s arrest’, but Acting Assistant Police Commissioner Rod Wilde said powers of citizen arrest had to be “proportionate and reasonable”, conceding the alleged use of cable ties was “unusual”.

“It will be alleged that the force was not proportionate or reasonable in those circumstances,” he said.