A community has come together to raise funds for two young children to buy their own pool after they were allegedly detained by a tradesman for swimming in a Broome backyard.
Stuart, 7, and Margaret, 6, were swimming in a pool at a property in Cable Beach on Tuesday when they were allegedly physically restrained by Mat Radelic, 45, for trespassing.
Part of the incident was live-streamed to Facebook as onlookers shouted for the release of the children, whose hands were cable-tied together.
A fundraiser was launched to support the family with the community raising $5000 in total within 24 hours.
The money will go towards buying an above-ground swimming pool and pool toys for the pair.
“Stuart and Margaret are going to have safe swims anytime they like,” the organiser wrote on social media, alongside a copy of a receipt for a pool set from Big W.
“Community did this – thank you.”
Police were called to the Cable Beach home on Tuesday to investigate a reported trespass incident but instead found Margaret and Stuart tied up.
They later located a third child, an eight-year-old boy, who they said had been detained but fled before police arrived.
Their mother Rowena told A Current Affair that her son Stuart had suffered nightmares following the incident, with the cable ties bound so tightly around his wrists that it left “a bit of blood, a bit of a scratch”.
Radelic has been charged with assault. He was granted bail to face court at a later date.
