A WA nurse has been stood down from his hospital job after posting an expletive-filled, racist rant on Facebook that appeared to threaten violence against local indigenous children.

Broome nurse Kevin Naughton was apparently outraged by a post on a community Facebook page about children breaking into local homes, when he made the offending comments.

“Just f@$king bash them within an inch of their useless worthless lives, they are nothing more than rats or cockroaches,” he wrote on the Facebook group.

“F**k this do-gooder s**t let’s f**k these little c**ts up, we’ve got bullbars for a reason (haha we all know the joke).”

The comment about the bullbar was interpreted by others in the group as a reference to the death of indigenous Kalgoorlie boy Elijah Doughty who was killed when he was hit by a car last year.

The incident and the following court case prompted riots in the rural town, and attracted national outrage.

The comments, published on Friday night, incited backlash against Mr Naughton who asked the group’s moderators to publish an apology on his behalf the following day.

In the follow-up apology, Mr Naughton said he had been “intoxicated” when he made the “disgusting and completely inappropriate comments”.

“My comments were completely independent from WA Country Health Service and in no way affiliated with Broome Hospital. I sincerely apologise.”

But as far as Mr Naughton’s employer was concerned, it was too little, too late.

WA Country Health Service chief executive Jeff Moffet told news.com.au in a statement Mr Naughton was immediately stood down once the department found out about his comments.

“The comments made on the Broome Community Facebook page by a staff member employed at Broome Health Service are not acceptable to the WA Country Health Service (WACHS),” Mr Moffet said.

He was stood down pending an investigation.

“These comments contradict the views and values of the WA Country Health Service. WACHS strongly value our connection with the Aboriginal communities across the state.”

Mr Moffet said all staff were bound by the department’s code of conduct, and were aware breaches could results in disciplinary action.

As well as facing consequences from his employer, Mr Naughton has faced fierce backlash from community members, including several local Aboriginal people.

Broom woman Marlikka Perdrisat expressed her disappointment in an emotional Facebook post.

“I thought that at least Australia could learn from Elijah’s case but instead people are making jokes and encouraging criminal behaviour in Broome,” she wrote.

“I would just like to think that it aws one d***head until I saw others were liking his comments. Broome has historically been a very multicultural community, but no child anywhere should fear threats from an adult.”