A father who reported young indigenous children running amok and swimming in his pool to police claims he was the victim of a revenge attack in which they poured 15 liters of white paint into his pool.
Broome, in the northwest of Western Australia, has been the center of controversy in the past week after an air conditioning trader was accused of allegedly tying up three Indigenous children who had been swimming in his parents’ pool.
Matej Radelic was charged with three counts of aggravated assault after shocking video footage was streamed live from the front of his parents’ home in Cable Beach.
Local resident Lee Du Bray – who grew up in the coastal town and has two indigenous children – expressed sympathy for Mr Radelic’s apparently drastic action when his swimming pool was similarly invaded six years ago.
But Mr Du Bray told Daily Mail Australia when he reported the incidents to police: “revenge came quickly.”
The youths returned twice – the first time with a can of paint that they poured into the pool, and again to smash up the garden and tear open the pool’s fiberglass floor with star gates.
Indigenous children forced their way into Du Bray’s Broome swimming pool in January 2018, where they later poured a can of paint into gutters and vandalized his garden
When he called the police, the kids came back to pour a large can of white paint into the pool, ruining the filtration system, and then came back to impale the fiberglass skin with star pickets.
Pots were vandalized in the garden of Mr Du Bray’s home in Broome’s Chinatown district, costing him a total of $100,000 in damage.
The destruction of his property, an old pearlers’ quarters in Broome’s historic Chinatown district on Roebuck Bay, ultimately cost him $100,000.
Mr Du Bray, who said he loved Broome but feared the epidemic of youth crime meant the idyllic town was at risk, said he had spent $50,000 installing a fiberglass swimming pool in his backyard.
‘The moment I went outside, the pool was overrun by the local children. I have security cameras of the kids climbing over the fence,” he told Daily Mail Australia.
‘There were about a dozen cases and I called the police. What if a child drowned in that pool? If they threw the book at me, I would end up in jail.
‘They told them to leave but later came back and threw an entire four-litre can of paint into the pool.
‘It was white paint. It ruined the whole filtration system and of course there was the cost of emptying, cleaning and refilling the pool.
Two young Indigenous men next to Lee Du Bray’s swimming pool as they invaded his property in January 2018, after which ‘revenge’ attacks were carried out to destroy the swimming pool
The vandals dumped the paint can (left) in Mr Du Bray’s garden and returned two weeks later with star pickets to spear holes in the pool, destroying the fiberglass skin (right) and flooding the foundation.
One child stands on the veranda, ready to jump into the pool, while others play at the pool that was later destroyed in ‘revenge’ attacks after the police were called
‘Weeks later they came back and threw star pickets straight through the fiberglass floor of the pool.
‘This undermined the foundation of the pool and required it to be reinstalled and refilled.
“At least $100,000 was lost and the children were never even brought before a magistrate. I feel sorry for that poor tradie.’
Mr Du Bray’s garden was also vandalized, with garden pots broken and debris left lying around.
CCTV footage of the pool invasion shows children frolicking in the water, splashing around the edges and one child even climbing onto the house’s veranda to jump in.
Mr Du Bray said “revenge attacks” are a reality for anyone who reports or challenges youth crime.
Mr Du Bray, who runs his own equipment purchasing business, said he was desperate for Broome.
The images of three Indigenous children tied up with a cable by a Broome tradie have sparked worldwide outrage, but some city residents say invasions by children are just part of the wave of youth crime.
Air conditioning tradie Matej Radelic has been widely condemned for allegedly holding three indigenous children with cable ties in Broome
‘When Broome was nice 20 to 25 years ago, there was no racial disharmony, there were no drugs, there were some fantastic local Aboriginal families – and they still are.
‘I lived with an Aboriginal family and when I got home from work, the kids would be ready with their towels and I’d drive to Cable Beach for a swim.
‘I fell in love with the place, but now these children are not made to go to school. There are drugs and alcohol, there is no discipline and they roam the streets at night.
‘People say ‘oh poor kids, (they) come from a disadvantaged background’ but you are responsible for your own actions and there are Aboriginal people who do that.’
Mr Du Bray cited the example of an indigenous Broome family whose children “went to school, grew up without conviction, and have now had their own children who have all become good children.”
But he said many children in the city were “totally out of control.”
Five children swam in Mr Du Bray’s pool after breaking into the property, which he reported to police, saying children returned in “revenge” and poured paint into it and then sprayed the pool surface with star pickets
Lee Du Bray said he “fell in love with Broome” and knew indigenous families who were upstanding citizens, but many were involved in a wave of drugs and crime that was overtaking the city.
“I don’t know why people don’t say it. You’re being called a racist.’
Broome’s tourism industry – centered around the world-famous Cable Beach, camel rides, the city’s history as a pearling port and its world-class resorts – has suffered a decline due to the rise of youth crime.
Restaurants offering outdoor dining were closed due to wanderings after dark, Du Bray said, of “angry and aggressive” indigenous youth.
“You were sitting at an outdoor table and these scary kids, teenagers, came up to you and stood there like they were ready to bash you,” he said.
‘It’s so frustrating that nothing is being done. You’re looking at Alice Springs (the town in the Outback Northern Territory that is also experiencing a wave of youth crime).
‘It’s the canary in the coal mine. In ten years’ time, no one will be living there anymore.’