Cable tie incident in Broome, Western Australia: Tradie Matej Radelich reveals WHY he allegedly restrained three Aboriginal children in livestream video that shocked Australia
EXCLUSIVE
The trader who allegedly tied up three Aboriginal children with cables after they swam in his parents’ backyard pool said he took drastic action after they attacked the house six times.
Shocking footage posted to Facebook showed a six-year-old girl, a seven-year-old boy and an eight-year-old boy in tears with their hands tied together outside a house in Broome, Western Australia, on Tuesday afternoon.
Daily Mail Australia can reveal that air conditioning boss Mat Radelic, also known as Matej Radelich, is the trader at the center of the viral video, filmed in the suburb of Cable Beach.
The 45-year-old was charged by Western Australia police on Wednesday with three counts of aggravated assault. He will appear in court on March 25.
In new video footage obtained exclusively by Daily Mail Australia, Radelic can be heard complaining to the person recording him: “They are on my property. It’s not the first time: six times [this has happened].’
Property records show the Conkerberry Road home was put up for sale just three weeks ago.
Mat Radelic, also known as Matej Radelich, has been charged with three counts of assault
Daily Mail Australia can reveal he is the boss of a local air conditioning company
Rod Wilde, acting deputy commissioner of the regional police, said a neighbor called police at 1.35pm on Tuesday after seeing the children swimming in an ‘unoccupied’ pool.
‘About ten minutes later the police received a call from a male subject [allegedly] said he restrained three children because they caused damage in that backyard,” Commissioner Wilde said.
‘The police located two children at that time – one had left – who had done so [allegedly] are tied up with cables on that site.’
Police will allege a fourth boy had also been in the pool but managed to flee and alerted family members to what was happening.
A woman, who is related to the little girl and seven-year-old boy, streamed the shocking ordeal live and said the tradie refused to let them go.
“When we tried to walk in to get them, he pushed me and my mother out of the yard,” she told the newspaper Western Australian.
The six-year-old girl and seven-year-old boy were bound with cable ties at the Broome property on Tuesday afternoon
An earlier photo on Facebook showed a third child tied up (pictured)
“When we stopped there, and when that guy pushed me out of the fence… the little (eight-year-old) boy broke the zip ties with his hands and then jumped over the fence and ran down. away.
“It was just disturbing, we were so angry because (the tradie) just yelled at him and told him to let them go, but he just wouldn’t listen to us.”
The family member said Radelic kept saying he was “waiting for the police to come.”
She said one of the children also claimed the man told them he would “hit them with a big stick.”
Paramedics from St John Ambulance assessed the children, who have now been reunited with their families.
After officers arrived at the property, Radelic was taken into custody and interviewed.
His company’s website was taken offline after it was bombarded with one-star Google reviews following the incident, and the business phone has been disabled.
He was later charged and granted bail to appear at Broome Magistrates Court on March 25.