The distraught parents of an 12-year-old boy who was allegedly sat on and had his head “stomped on” during a violent citizen’s arrest earlier this year have called for action.
A shocking video of the August incident shows the now suspended Barkly Regional Council Mayor, Jeffrey McLaughlin, sitting on the child’s back during an altercation in Tennant Creek, a remote town in the Northern Territory.
Another man who features in the clip allegedly “stomped” on the boy’s head and is now facing charges of aggravated assault, according to the ABC.
Mr McLaughlin claims the boy, who is understood to be Indigenous, had broken into his home, which has prompted him to physically restrain and detain the child until police arrived.
“I’ll sit here as f**king long as I have to,” Mr McLaughlin can be heard saying in the clip.
In a letter signed by the child’s parents and sent to the North Australian Aboriginal Justice Agency (NAAJA) from Barkly councillor Elliot McAdam, the family allege that Mr McLaughlin “used excessive force” to restrain the boy for an unnecessarily long period of time.
“As a person in high office he should [have] stopped this assault almost immediately, but he didn’t,” the letter reads.
“Any reasonable person would not have sat on my son’s back … for a long time. Mr McLaughlin did not try to stop [the other man] stomping on my son’s head.”
After receiving an influx of criticism after footage of the incident was released, Mr McLaughlin responded saying his actions were “entirely reasonable within the circumstances”.
He also earlier claimed that after the incident, he spoke with the child’s parents in what he described as “restorative justice”.
The parents have denied that this ever occurred. The suspended mayor also claimed he was a relative of the family, which they also claimed was not true.
Since the incident, Mr McLaughlin has resisted calls from Indigenous organisations to resign over the incident.
Along with fellow Barkly Regional Council members, he is currently suspended from office as the NT government investigates concerns over their management.
NT Attorney-General and Local Government Minister Chansey Paech have claimed that this investigation has “nothing to do with the mayor’s actions” in the video, according to the ABC.
Mr Paech previously stated that he was “horrified” by the clip and that he believed Mr McLaughlin’s actions as being “completely unacceptable”.
A citizen’s arrest is when an individual, who is not a duly sworn police officer, detains a person who they believe is committing or has just committed an offence such as theft, assault or criminal damage.
Important requirements need to be in place before a citizen’s arrest is considered legal.
If one were to perform a citizen’s arrest without a justifiable cause, or if they do not bring the person before a police office in a timely manner, they could face charges for assault, false imprisonment or deprivation of liberty, according to Sydney Criminal Lawyers.
A citizen’s arrest can only be made when it is on the basis of having seen a person you are arresting committing an offence.
Mere suspicion does not justify a citizen detaining a person.
In addition to the possibility of a person endangering themselves during a citizen’s arrest, it is vital that only ‘reasonable force’ is used to detain the other person.