THE WA Disabled Sports Association is refusing to talk about reports that one of its door-to-door collectors, who allegedly swore at a 10-year-old in Cockburn, was retrained and assigned to a different suburb.

Cockburn WA Crime Watch posted a photo of the collector on Facebook when Spearwood residents reported the man was rude, had acted strangely and wasn’t wearing a badge with a name and ID number on it.

Matt McGarry posted, ” he abused a 10 year old calling him a ‘fucking ****’ just after he stormed off from my house…”.

Cockburn WA Crime Watch later deleted the photo, saying he was the real deal.

“The door to door collector working for the WA Disabled Sports Association Inc is indeed legitimate (confirmed by 2 separate people), WADSA employs people who may struggle to find gainful employment as well as those with disabilities,” the service posted.

“The person pictured previously on this page does work for the organisation.

“It is understood that this particular man will be reassigned to a different area and given more training.

“As for the ID situation, workers are supposed to have a WASDA name badge with his name and an ID number on it.

“…we rely on members of the public for info however this gent’s behaviour caused quite a bit of suspicion amongst local residents.”

Cockburn WA Crime Watch said residents had every right to be suspicious, “and the guy was far from perfect, he basically brought a whole lot of attention to himself through his words and actions”.

The Chook contacted WA DSA but it declined to comment. The administrator of Cockburn WA Crime Watch refused an interview request.

by STEPHEN POLLOCK