Bizarre mistake sees seven-year-old boy served with restraining order by Aussie cops

Footage of a seven-year-old First Nations boy being unlawfully served a violence restraining order (VRO) by a police officer has emerged.

The vision, posted to TikTok, shows a kneeling uniformed officer, from the Mirrabooka Police department in Perth, reading the terms of the VRO by torchlight to the little boy as he holds his mother's hand.

The incident took place on Friday evening, with video showing the officer reading to the child as he stares on in confusion, glancing back at his mother for reassurance as a crowd gathers around the group. The little boy's mum can be heard towards the end of the footage asking the policeman whether or not he believes her son can even comprehend what's occurring.

“You ask my son now, my seven-year-old son, if he understands what you said?” she repeats a number of times, to which the officer responds: “All I have to do is read this out".

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Court deems act unlawful

It's since emerged that the order was issued by the Perth Children’s Court, that directed the officers involved to serve the VRO, though, in Western Australia, it's illegal to do so to a child under the age of 10.

Speaking to Yahoo News Australia, a spokesperson for WA Police said that after authorities determined the boy's age, the VRO was revoked.

"Police are required to serve court issued VROs," the spokesperson told Yahoo. "Following a court direction, Mirrabooka Police served a VRO on the evening of November 3. 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."

WA Police stand by officers 'who acted professionally'

The spokesperson continued to explain that "after service, WA Police queried the VRO with the court" and though it was determined that the VRO was completely invalid, "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 concluded.

Children's court revokes VRO

A representative from the children's court said once police advised the court that the child was indeed only seven, the matter was brought back "before the court on Monday afternoon and the VRO, which was issued on October 13, was cancelled", The West Australian reported.

It's understood after court staff revised the original application, it was determined that the boy was originally represented as being in high school, with that representation being made by the person who applied for the VRO.

The court recommended that the applicant who filed for the VRO — understood to be a woman — be personally served with a cancellation notice.

It remains unclear what alleged crimes took place prior to the incident that saw the young boy be served the VRO in the first place.

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