An Australian man who tied up children caught swimming in his pool has been convicted of assault in a case that made global headlines.
Matej Radelic, 46, tied up three young children - aged just six, seven and eight - on his property in Broome, Western Australia in March after they snuck into his backyard to swim in the pool.
Radelic was convicted of two counts of aggravated common assault at Broome Magistrates Court after prosecutors argued he had made a “dehumanising” and unreasonable arrest, the ABC reported.
His defence argued that Radelic had performed a legal citizen’s arrest, but magistrate Deen Potter found him guilty of two out of three counts after hearing how the children were under the age of criminal responsibility in Australia, which is ten.
While both parties agreed the children had trespassed onto Radelic’s property and committed criminal damage, the court ruled the detention was disproportionate.
Radelic was acquitted on the third charge because the oldest child was detained for less time and managed to break free.
The court heard his call to emergency services in which he could be heard to tell the operator that the children were “scared and crying” after being tied up.
She replied: “Yeah, no wonder.”
When officers arrived at his remote home some 1,200 miles north-east of Perth, he told them of his frustration, saying: "I mean, there's no consequences for anything.
“What would you do?... If you think I need to go to jail, I will."
In mitigation, defence lawyer Seamus Rafferty argued Radelic had been a victim of crime because his home had been broken into four times before the incident in separate, unrelated cases.
He argued that while the use of cable ties to bind the children’s wrists was “not a good look”, Radelic’s actions were not about “emotion, race, or vigilantism”.
He pointed to the arresting officer’s written notes which suggested they believed the incident was a lawful citizen's arrest.
But prosecutors argued the use of force was unreasonable as the children had complied when asked to get out of the pool.
Radelic was handed a fine of A$2,000 (£1,040), suspended for 12 months.
