Confronting footage has emerged of a young Indigenous boy being unlawfully served with a restraining order in front his mother and shocked onlookers.
The incident occurred in Mirrabooka, in Perth‘s north, last Friday evening when the seven-year-old Aboriginal boy was issued a violence restraining order (VRO).
Footage of the shocking moment, which has since been uploaded to TikTok, shows two uniformed male police officers presenting the notice to the young boy.
One male officer is seen reading out the order as he kneels before the boy while the other officer is seen flashing a torchlight on the paper the order is written on.
The officer kneeling down is seen reading out a string of alleged charges against the boy as he stands next to his mother holding her hand.
A bizarre moment unfolded in Western Australia last Friday when a seven-year-old boy was issued a violence restraining order by police (pictured)
At one point the boy, who is dressed in a grey t-shirt and dark blue pants, looks up at his mother confused by the situation unfolding before him.
Meanwhile the officer continues reading out the list of charges as bystanders watch on and some begin to film the intense exchange.
Once the officer kneeling finishes reading the order a tense verbal altercation erupts between the mother of the child and the officer.
The woman instructs the officer to ask her son whether he can comprehend the VRO being made against him.
‘You ask my son now,’ she said.
‘My seven year old son if he understands what you just said.’
The man who appears to be filming the video also chimes in and urges the police officer to ask the boy if he understands the charges against him.
The officer responds by telling the woman, ‘All I have do is read this out’.
‘You’re the responsible adult.’
A shouting match between the officers and locals who had gathered around in numbers ensued afterwards.
The officers are repeatedly told to ask the boy if he understood the charges.
‘Do you understand what I’ve just said,’ the officer said.
The boy nods as the man filming can be heard saying ‘no he doesn’t’ before the video cuts out.
A Western Australia Police spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia the VRO was served unlawfully.
‘Following a court direction, Mirrabooka Police served a VRO on the evening of November 3,’ the spokesperson said.
‘During service it was identified that the child was seven years old.
‘The law is very clear that a VRO cannot be made to a child under 10 years of age.’
The spokesperson however added the ‘Commissioner of Police has reviewed the matter and fully supports the officers involved’.
‘They conducted themselves professionally and were acting on the court’s direction.’
The spokesperson confirmed that police did check the order with the Perth Children’s Court after it was issued.
The Indigenous boy stood in front of officers as he was read out a series of charges by one officer who knelt before him to issue him with a series of alleged charges
A spokesperson from the Perth’s Children Court said the order has been cancelled and the matter was resolved on Monday.
The order is understood to have been issued on October 13.
‘Once police advised the court on the morning of 6 November 2023 that the child was 7 years old, the matter was put back before the court,’ the spokesperson said.
‘The court also made an order that the applicant for the order be personally served with the cancellation notice.’
The court has since reviewed the application for the order and found that ‘the representation made to the court was that the children the subject of the applications were in high school’.
The alleged charges that led to the boy being issued with the VRO is unknown however it is understood a woman filed for the order.
A VRO is a court order issued to stop violent acts being committed by a person against another person who they are in a family relationship with.
Applications for a VRO can be made b the legal guardian of a person who requires protection, a child welfare officer on behalf of a minor, or by a police officer on behalf of a child or adult.
According to the law in Western Australia a restraining order cannot be issued against a child under the age of ten.