Superintendent Paul Fehon is careful with the language he uses, mindful to not cause more distress to William’s family. Detectives with the homicide squad and the child sex abuse squad have both been helping with the inquiry and cadaver dogs have combed the area for kilometres around the peaceful village of Kendall.

But Supt Fehon does not want to dwell on what can be the harsh reality when the squads who handle the tough cases become involved.

“I’m not going to have those terms out there muddying the waters until we find out what has happened to young William,” he said yesterday.

There are chilling parallels with the case of missing three-year-old Madeleine McCann, who disappeared seven years ago from her family’s holiday villa at the Portuguese holiday resort of Praia da Luz.

As in Madelaine’s case, no one saw William go.

He and his sister had arrived from their Sydney home with their parents on the evening of Thursday, September 11. About 10.30am on the Friday, the two children were chasing each other around outside the back of their grandmother’s house.

The house is at the closed end of Benaroon Drive, a cul-de-sac, and surrounded on three sides by bush. William’s mum went to make a cup of tea. His grandmother was sitting in the garden.

The boy was out of sight for between one and five minutes. No one heard a car, no one heard any screams or cries.

His four-year-old sister did not see what happened. But William had gone.

Within five minutes, his parents raised the alarm and ran to alert neighbours. Within 20 minutes the police were there. By 1pm, there were more than 100 people searching.

“If he has just wandered off of his own accord and met with misadventure, we would have found something by now,” Supt Fehon said.

“We can’t rule out opportunistic human intervention but if that was the case, then the chances of everything aligning for that to take place is unbelievable.

“I would say that someone does know something but that would only be speculation.”

Every one of the 21 houses in the exclusive estate around the grandmother’s house have been searched from top to bottom twice, including roof cavities and septic tanks.

Supt Fehon is no stranger to baffling searches. With fellow superintendent Peter Thurtell, he led the nation’s longest and largest manhunt, which ended when fugitive Malcolm Naden was found in March 2012 in a remote cabin, west of Gloucester.

He modestly describes that as an “organisational achievement” and says it is the same way to solve the disappearance of William. Solid police work.

Strike Force Rosann is now following up hundreds of calls to CrimeStoppers including sightings of William. Even reports from clairvoyants, traditionally treated with scepticism, are being chased up.

The investigation will go on indefinitely. “You can’t let a three-year-old boy just go missing and not continue with the investigation,” he said.

William Tyrrell inquest told that evidence will show toddler 'was likely taken'

By police reporter Mark Reddie ABC

The first inquest into William Tyrrell's disappearance has heard the three-year-old "wasn't a wanderer" and that evidence will show "he was likely taken" from his foster grandmother's home in NSW.

Deputy State Coroner Harriet Grahame opened the hearing by offering her condolences to the toddler's biological grandmother and father, who sat quietly in the front row of the courtroom.

"To have a child go missing must be to have one of the greatest pains anyone can experience," she said.

The court was played a video of a police interview with the foster father almost a week after the toddler vanished from his foster grandmother's home at Kendall on September 12, 2014.

It shows him leading a detective to a wire fence at the edge of the Benaroon Drive property and telling the police officer "it would be too hard" for William to climb over it.

"He knows his limitations, he has asthma and he would start coughing, he never wanders, he is not a wanderer, he just doesn't do it," he said.

The detective then said: "Would this be too daunting for William?"

The foster father replies: "Yep, too hard."

'He was likely taken'

The court was also played the frantic phone call made by William's foster mother 20 minutes after she noticed her son had gone missing from the front yard while playing with his sister.

William's foster mother told the court how she thought it was "odd" that two cars were parked across the road from the Kendall home on the day the young boy disappeared.

"The driveways are really long — so to walk down the driveways doesn't make sense if you were visiting someone," she said.

She became emotional while describing the vehicles — a grey car and a white station wagon — telling the court that, in hindsight, she thought both of those cars may have been there to abduct William and his sister.

"I just thought it was for both of them," she said.

The owners of the two cars were among the hundreds of people of interest in one of the state's most baffling missing person cases.

Counsel Assisting Gerard Craddock SC said it usually took around two hours for a parent to contact police in similar situations.

He also referred to research from the United States, which claimed 74 per cent of children who were abducted were murdered within three hours of being taken, and added that "instinct tells us he (William) was likely abducted".

"There is no evidence presently available to establish that William is in fact dead, although there is a wealth of evidence to raise suspicion," he said.

William Tyrell's biological grandmother wiped away tears when a photo of him dressed in a Spider Man suit was projected on a screen.

Mr Craddock also told the court there was "no doubt" that the toddler's biological parents were in Sydney on the day he went missing, but that "he didn't disappear because he was in foster care".

"Investigators have not positively identified that no relatives were involved in William's disappearance."

"I suspect the evidence will show that he was likely taken — that William's disappearance was likely the result of human intervention," he said.

The inquest will be held over five days this week.

William Tyrrell abducted in a car by an offender who chose to 'act on their desires', inquest hears

By crime reporter Mark Reddie ABC

The inquest into the disappearance of William Tyrrell has heard that the toddler was likely abducted by a "sneaky complex offender" who chose to "act on their desires".

The toddler vanished from his foster grandmother's home in the sleepy town of Kendall on the NSW mid-north coast almost five years ago.

Counsel Assisting Gerard Craddock SC opened a second round of hearings at the NSW Coroners Court in western Sydney with the conclusion that: "William was taken and removed from the vicinity in a car".

Mr Craddock said it was not rational to think that William could have kept ahead of police, emergency services or flocks of citizens involved in the initial search for the three-year-old when he vanished on September 12, 2014.

Research from the US found in 97 per cent of homicides involving children under five, the victim was murdered by a family member.

But the inquest was told that was unlikely in this case, and William was probably put in a car and driven away by someone else.

"If William was murdered, and it's a big if, it may be one of those rare cases of 3 per cent," Mr Craddock said.

Despite endless searches of bushland and more than 15,000 pieces of evidence, there has been no sign of William.

"Worldwide these cases have proven most difficult to solve," Mr Craddock said.

The inquest heard how NSW police believe the case — described as one of the state's most complex investigations — can still be solved despite no eye witnesses and no forensic evidence.

More than 50 witnesses are expected to give evidence at the second round of hearings, but Mr Craddock warned the media against naming and shaming anyone.

"This is an inquest and not a criminal trial — it would be wrong for any of us to believe that anyone called here is guilty of homicide."

Former NSW homicide detective Gary Jubelin, who was removed from the investigation earlier this year, sat inside the court room, as well as William's biological parents and grandmother.

The second part of the inquest is sitting in western Sydney for the next two weeks before it moves to Taree courthouse on the NSW Mid North Coast, near where William disappeared.

A $1 million reward remains in place for information leading police to the whereabouts of William.

William Tyrrell inquest hears SES volunteer Robert Donohoe did not answer police questions

By Jamie McKinnell ABC

An SES volunteer described as "creepy" and who refused to answer detectives' questions, has appeared at an inquest into William Tyrrell's suspected murder.

Three-year-old William vanished from his foster grandmother's yard at Kendall on the NSW mid-north coast in 2014.

The inquest heard that former petrol station worker Robert Donohoe attended a search zone as a State Emergency Services volunteer in September of that year.

Not long after, he was jailed for sexually assaulting two disabled men.

The inquest was on Friday played a video of a police interview with Mr Donohoe at Wagga Wagga in November last year.

He attended the station with a disability advocate and sat silently as detectives began to ask questions.

"I'm going to ask you some questions in relation to the disappearance and suspected murder of William Tyrrell on the 12th day of September 2014," Detective Senior Sergeant Mark Dukes asked.

Mr Donohoe did not respond to the questions.

During the video, Detective Senior Sergeant Dukes acknowledged Mr Donohoe had been given legal advice not to say anything.

At the beginning of his appearance before the inquest, Mr Donohoe warned that his memory was not good and he had a cognitive impairment.

"I've been bashed in jail and everything, so my memory's not 100 per cent," he told the court.

He recalled the search zone being "like a football match" because it was so busy, saying there was nowhere to park and there was a strong media presence.

The inquest has previously heard from Mr Donohoe's then-boss, Sharon Starr, who described him as "creepy".

She said Mr Donohoe would often keep chickens in his van, which was later seized by detectives.

Mr Donohoe was excused as a witness but may be recalled at a later stage.

Coroner says former detective cannot give evidence

Peter O'Brien, a lawyer acting for Bill Spedding, a person of interest in the investigation, made an application on Friday to add former detective Gary Jubelin and other senior police who led the investigation to the witness list.

The former detective was stood down from the investigation over allegations he unlawfully recorded conversations without a warrant and has pleaded not guilty.

Mr O'Brien described the investigation as "frustrating and damaging" for his client.

"He and the rest of the community are entitled to know whether it could have been done better," he said.

But Deputy state coroner Harriet Grahame rejected the application and said her "primary focus and greatest hope" was to find out what happened to three-year-old William.

"It is not the time for trying to discover, on a piecemeal basis, if the investigation went down a wrong track," she said.

"If there is a need to look at the adequacy of the investigation, it is not now."

Ms Grahame said calling the senior officers would be "unwieldy" and would cause the inquest to lose focus.

The inquest continues.

 

William Tyrrell inquest witness Paul Savage grilled in court after changing his story

By crime reporter Mark Reddie ABC

Cracks are beginning to emerge in the evidence given by a key witness at the inquest into the suspected murder of William Tyrrell.

Paul Savage resumed his testimony at Taree Courthouse on Thursday as the coronial inquest's special regional sitting, which had been dull to this point, dragged into its third week.

However, people in the packed public gallery sat up when inconsistencies began to appear in the 75-year-old neighbour's version of events.

William was last seen in a Spider-Man suit playing outside his foster grandmother's home at Kendall, on the NSW mid-north coast, on September 12, 2014.

Mr Savage is among hundreds of "persons of interest" in a case that has puzzled detectives, but police have never found any evidence during multiple searches of his home.

The day William went missing, a woman knocked on Mr Savage's door to raise the alarm.

At the time, neighbours told police they heard the foster father screaming out his son's name as he ran around the property in a panic.

But on Thursday Mr Savage told Counsel Assisting Gerard Craddock he heard nothing that morning.

"You didn't hear anyone calling out for William?" Mr Craddock asked.

"No I didn't," Mr Savage replied.

In his police statement, Mr Savage said he saw the foster father "crying and upset", but when asked about it on Thursday, he said "I don't remember that".

Mr Savage also recalled speaking to neighbours about the missing boy despite them not remembering those exchanges, the inquest was told.

He then claimed he began searching for the missing boy.

"I inspected the drains, I didn't get down and search them, but I checked to see if someone was there," Mr Savage said.

"But that's not what you have in your police statement?" Mr Craddock said.

"Well I do now," he replied.

"So is your memory cloudy?" Mr Craddock said.

"Yes it is," Mr Savage replied.

The inquest sat for only 20 minutes and heard from one witness yesterday, with the Deputy State Coroner Harriet Grahame acknowledging delays during the country sitting.

"How frustrating it is there is court time we are not going to use," she said.

William Tyrrell inquest hears person of interest Bill Spedding was with his wife on day of disappearance

By Jamie McKinnell ABC

A person of interest in the disappearance of William Tyrrell has told an inquest he was having coffee with his wife and out of the area on the day the young boy vanished.

Whitegoods repairman William "Bill" Spedding, who denies any involvement in the three-year-old's disappearance, attended the foster family's Kendall home three days before he vanished in September 2014.

He later ordered parts for their broken washing machine and returned to finish the job the next week, after William vanished.

Mr Spedding today told the inquest he met his wife Margaret for coffee that morning before attending a school assembly, where a child in their care received an award.

"[The child] particularly wanted us to be there Friday morning," Mr Spedding said.

The court was shown a receipt from a cafe across the road from the school for a coffee order paid for by the Spedding's joint bank account.

It was time-stamped at 9.42am. William was last seen in the front yard of his foster grandmother's home at 10.30.

Mr Spedding recalled hearing about William's disappearance on news bulletins and thinking it was "awful, terrible".

"We were really tuned into it, being almost local," he said.

The court was played a video walk-through with Mrs Spedding recorded at the cafe and school in 2015 with former detective Gary Jubelin, who at the time led the investigation.

Mrs Spedding also said being interviewed and having police show up at their home left them "in shock".

"We couldn't believe what had happened to us," she told the officers.

"When they come and just landed at our doorstep like that, it was a shock."

In the video Detective Jubelin referred to the media coverage as "very unfair".

Outside court, Mr Spedding said he was relieved to have told the Coroner and police everything he could to help find out what happened to William.

"Obviously, the police investigation and the media interest in mine and Margaret's movements have had a devastating impact on my life, my family's life and livelihood," he said, reading from a prepared statement.

"I know what I have been through is nothing compared to what William's families are going through now.

"I wish the Coroner all wisdom in getting to the bottom of this mystery."

Mr Spedding's lawyer Peter O'Brien said he would consider legal action against NSW Police.

The inquest continues.

New William Tyrrell photos released from the same day he vanished in Kendall

By Selby Stewart ABC

On the fifth anniversary of William Tyrrell's disappearance, the NSW Coroner has released new photos of the missing boy and the transcript of an interview with a key witness.

The five images show the then three-year-old drawing on a verandah at his foster grandmother's home in Kendall on the NSW mid-north coast the same morning he went missing in 2014.

He is wearing the Spiderman costume he vanished in and is sitting next to another young child who is also drawing.

Alongside the photos, a transcript from a 2017 police interview with a witness who claims he was the last person to see William alive was also made public.

Kendall resident Ronald Chapman told a recent inquest into William's disappearance that he saw the boy being driven away in a car at high speed, moments after the toddler vanished.

In the transcript dated April 4, the 78-year-old revealed he called the driver of the car a "stupid bitch" for having a child unrestrained in the backseat.

"The car was very close to being in the drain," Mr Chapman told detectives.

"And under my breath I called the woman a stupid B."

Mr Chapman told detectives the woman was in her "late 20s" and of "fair appearance" and was being tailed by another car driven by a man.

"She had blonde hair, it was all combed up in a bun on the top of her head," the transcript said.

"About 50 yards behind her was a six-cylinder Ford Sedan.

"It came around the corner and by the time they got to the top of the hill the car would have been right behind her."

'The next question is very important'

The interview lasted for almost four hours, with the detectives asking Mr Chapman more than 1,600 questions.

At one point, Mr Chapman appeared to forget William's name.

"By the time I looked up and saw Daniel, that's about where the front of the car was," he said.

"Who is Daniel?" a detective asked.

"William, sorry … I don't know who I'm even thinking of," Mr Chapman said.

At other times, Mr Chapman appeared steadfast in his evidence.

"This next question is very, very important Ron, and I want you to think very hard about it," the detective said.

"At that point in time, when you first saw the hands of that child and the colours of the clothing he was wearing, did you think that what he was wearing was a Spiderman suit?"

"Yes," Mr Chapman replied.

William Tyrrell captured on CCTV just one day before disappearance

By Jamie McKinnell ABC

Images of missing child William Tyrrell with his foster family, taken at a McDonald's the day before he vanished, have been released to the public for the first time.

NSW Deputy Coroner Harriet Grahame is overseeing an inquest into then-three-year-old William's disappearance from his foster grandmother's front yard at Kendall, on the mid-north coast, in 2014.

The CCTV stills show William's foster mother and father taking him to the Heatherbrae McDonald's restaurant, north of Newcastle, about 6:30pm on Thursday September 11, 2014.

William can be seen sitting on his foster father's shoulders.

The group orders a meal at the counter and sits to eat for about 10 minutes before leaving.

The three-year-old vanished the following morning, sparking an enormous police investigation and record $1 million reward for information.

On Tuesday, Ms Grahame also released a redacted statement by Senior Constable Wendy Hudson from October 2014, which details her involvement in the search operation.

Senior Constable Hudson recalled a conversation with William's foster mother where she recalled William wearing a Spiderman costume and "roaring like a lion", until the playful noises stopped.

"I went looking for him around the front, there was nothing, just silent, no cars, nothing," the officer recalled the foster mother saying.

Finding William 'primary focus and greatest hope'

In August, the Deputy Coroner rejected an application for former detective Gary Jubelin, who led the investigation, to be added to the witness list.

Detective Jubelin was sidelined from the investigation over allegations he unlawfully recorded conversations without a warrant. He pleaded not guilty.

Ms Grahame said her "primary focus and greatest hope" was to find out what happened to William and it was not the time to look into the adequacy of the police investigation.

Earlier this month, washing machine repairman Bill Spedding broke his silence about his "shattered" life after being named as a person of interest.

Mr Spedding, who had visited the foster family's home three days before William vanished, told Four Corners the investigation ruined his life and destroyed his business.

The inquest has previously heard Mr Spedding was with his wife Margaret at a local cafe before attending a primary school assembly on the morning William vanished.

The court was shown a receipt from the cafe to back up the evidence and also heard from a parent who said they saw Mr Spedding at the school event.

The inquest adjourned in August and will resume in Taree in March next year.

Former detective Gary Jubelin breached surveillance warrants in William Tyrrell investigation, court hears

By Mark Reddie and Jamie McKinnell ABC

Former detective Gary Jubelin allegedly contravened surveillance warrants by making recordings of a person of interest in the William Tyrrell investigation on his own mobile phone, a Sydney court has heard.

Last June, Mr Jubelin was charged with four breaches of the Surveillance Devices Act but has denied wrongdoing.

The 57-year-old is accused of illegally recording four conversations: one at Parramatta in November 2017 and another three at Kendall in 2018.

On Tuesday, it was revealed in court the conversations were with Paul Savage, who lived near William's Kendall home when the boy disappeared in 2014 and became a person of interest.

Prosecutor Phil Hogan told Downing Centre Local Court a telephone intercept warrant for Mr Savage's landline and mobile phone was issued in May 2017, along with a surveillance location warrant relating to his home the next day.

The court heard the telephone warrant expired on October 26 and about a week later Mr Jubelin made a recording at police headquarters in Parramatta.

Mr Hogan told the court Mr Jubelin allegedly placed his mobile on speakerphone and instructed a colleague to record the conversation with Mr Savage using that colleague's phone, meaning it was allegedly outside the scope of the warrant.

Mr Hogan alleged Mr Jubelin asked the colleague to prepare a transcript of some of the conversations, but to say they originated from the surveillance devices covered by the warrant.

The court heard that in May 2018, Mr Jubelin made another two allegedly illegal recordings of Mr Savage, this time at his Kendall home, on his own mobile.

The court was told a fourth conversation was recorded at the same location in December.

The quality of the original covert recordings gave rise to the need to record conversations on a device that was not the subject of a warrant, the court heard.

Mr Hogan said Mr Jubelin, in police interviews, claimed to have a lawful interest to record the conversations, but these were not recognised under the Surveillance Devices Act.

"The Act provides a comprehensive framework and … strict requirements to ensure the privacy of individuals is not unnecessarily impinged upon," he said.

"By making recordings on his mobile phone … all of those provisions of the act that provide a comprehensive framework and strict requirements are bypassed."

Mr Hogan said there was no urgency about any of the conversations.

Mr Jubelin has repeatedly claimed he had both a "lawful right and an operational need" to record.

The court heard Mr Jubelin claimed he needed to record the conversations because Mr Savage had previously complained about his treatment during police interviews, including that the air conditioning was too cold and he didn't have access to water.

He had also complained about the state his car was left in after it was examined by police because fingerprint powder wasn't sufficiently cleaned off.

Mr Hogan told the court a potential future complaint could not be regarded as a lawful interest.

Mr Jubelin's former colleague Detective Sergeant Laura Beecroft said one of the problems with the surveillance recordings covered by the warrants was that Mr Savage would often listen to the radio loudly.

The hearing, before Magistrate Ross Hudson, has been set down for five days.

NSW Police tried to lure William Tyrrell person of interest with planted Spiderman suit, court hears

By Jamie McKinnell ABC

Police planted a Spiderman suit on a walking track and hid in bushes to see if a suspect in the disappearance of William Tyrrell took it, a court has heard.

Extraordinary details of an undercover sting on Paul Savage — a person of interest in the Tyrrell investigation — were today revealed in proceedings against former detective Gary Jubelin.

Mr Savage came into the cross-hairs of detectives in mid-2017 when the Tyrrell investigation had been running for more than two years.

In July that year, police planted the costume, similar to the one William was wearing when he vanished on the NSW Mid-North Coast, and used hidden cameras to film Mr Savage's reaction.

The details of the sting were revealed in Sydney's Downing Centre Local Court where Mr Jubelin — the lead detective on the case — is facing charges of illegally recording four conversations with Mr Savage.

Mr Jubelin denied wrongdoing in relation to the recordings, insisting he had an operational need to record them.

Mr Jubelin's former colleague, Detective Sergeant Laura Beacroft, said surveillance operatives were hiding in the bush with cameras and saw Mr Savage stop at the suit.

"The footage showed him stopping for a period of 12 seconds," she told the court.

"I believe Mr Savage was some distance away from the suit, approximately five to eight metres."

 

Mr Savage did not report the suit to police until the following day and later insisted in a recorded police interview with Mr Jubelin that he had not seen it the first day.

A video of the interview was played to the court on Wednesday, in which Mr Jubelin tells Mr Savage he knows he is lying.

"You're badly mistaken," Mr Savage replied.

Detective Beacroft described the track as "a deviation from the main fire trail" which had "heavy scrub" either side.

She said the operative filming Mr Savage was "up to 30 metres away".

Mr Savage, who lived close to William's foster family, has never been charged in relation to William's suspected murder.

During today's hearing it was also revealed Mr Savage was the subject of an AVO for stalking a female post office employee.

Mr Savage's AVO was taken out by a woman from a post office on the Mid-North Coast, who claimed he followed her on her mail route in September 2012.

Mr Jubelin's matter is set down for five days.

 

William Tyrrell inquest hears convicted paedophile unable to say where he was on day of toddler's disappearance

By crime reporter Mark Reddie ABC

A convicted paedophile has lashed out at the media after he was unable to say where he was on the day William Tyrrell disappeared on the NSW mid-north coast.

Tony Jones missed his flight from Sydney this morning before he got a flat tyre as detectives drove him to Taree to give evidence at the inquest into the toddler's suspected murder.

The small town of Kendall descended into chaos on September 12, 2014, when William Tyrrell vanished while playing outside his foster grandmother's home.

On that morning, Tony Jones told his now ex-wife Debbie Jones he was heading out into the Bago State Forest to collect scrap metal with his son, Duane Gardoll.

"Mum asked me where he was and I told her I hadn't seen him all day," Mr Gardoll told the inquest this morning.

His now estranged father raised his voice when Counsel Assisting Gerard Craddock grilled him about where he was that day.

"I have no recollections, none whatsoever, and I'll be honest, if I wasn't scrapping I was probably sleeping with Debbie's friend next door," Tony Jones said.

Max Jones, who is not a relative, gave evidence at Taree Courthouse yesterday, and said he saw Tony Jones parked in a white Camry at Henry Kendall Reserve on the day the toddler went missing.

"That person who recognised me needs to go to an optometrist," Tony Jones told the inquest.

The car had belonged to Debbie Jones.

"She's a control freak … I was never allowed to drive Debbie's cars," he said.

The court heard Mr Gardoll stopped speaking to his father when he found out he drugged his mother and was jailed for child sex offences weeks after William Tyrrell's disappearance.

Tony Jones covered his face with his black hooded jumper when he stormed down the stairs of Taree Courthouse and into an unmarked car driven by detectives.

"Get out of my way!" he yelled while knocking the camera out of the hands of a photographer and pushing through a media scrum.

The convicted sex offender made no comment when reporters asked him if he knew what happened to William Tyrrell.

He will resume giving evidence on Wednesday.

William Tyrrell inquest hears person of interest Frank Abbott talked of 'peculiar smell' in bush

By crime reporter Mark Reddie ABC

A convicted sex offender did not report a "peculiar smell" coming from bushland near where William Tyrrell went missing, because he didn't want to "get the blame for it", an inquest has been told.

Frank Abbott, who has been watching several witnesses give evidence from Cessnock jail, used to do repair jobs at Top Takeaway at Wauchope.

The former shop owner Jan Anderson, her son Dean and daughter, Sherie, were all asked about their relationship with Abbott while giving evidence before Taree Courthouse.

"He kept going on about a bad smell around Logans Crossing area. We said it was probably a dead kangaroo … he said 'I know the difference between a dead kangaroo and a dead human'," Mr Anderson told the inquest.

Counsel Assisting Gerard Craddock asked Jan Anderson whether Abbott had reported the mystery smell to police.

"He said, 'No, no, no, I am not going to do that … if there is something up there, I will get the blame for it'," she said.

Police searching 'in the wrong spot'

The court also heard about a comment Abbott made when police searched a property of a washing machine repairman after William Tyrrell vanished from Kendall on the NSW mid-north coast on September 12, 2014.

"Frank made a comment he thought they were searching in the wrong spot for William Tyrrell, which seemed like a very strange comment to make," Mr Anderson said.

Dean Anderson described Abbott as a "dirty old man" who would constantly go on about how he "beat a murder charge in Sydney" like "it was a badge of honour".

Ms Anderson also told the court about how her family was "wary of him" when he did odd jobs out the back of her shop.

"He always used to be friendly to the children — we just had a feeling we didn't trust him around children — we made a particular point of not having the children or grandchildren near Frank," she said.

Coroner Harriet Grahame has continually reminded Abbott that he will have a chance to give evidence and to focus on asking witnesses questions instead of making statements.

Abbott is among hundreds of persons of interest linked to the suspected murder of William Tyrrell, although no charges have been laid and no one has ever been arrested.

The inquest is expected to wrap up by the end of next week before the findings are handed down at a later date.

 

NSW Police launch new William Tyrrell search close to where convicted paedophile used to live

By crime reporter Mark Reddie ABC

Police officers on Monday scoured an area of bush on the NSW Mid-North Coast as part of a new search in the ongoing investigation into the disappearance of William Tyrrell.

Riot police and SES crews were assisted by sniffer dogs in the search of area around a large rural property on Miles Drive at Herons Creek, parallel to the Pacific Highway.

It's about a 10-minute drive north of Kendall, where the three-year-old vanished while playing outside his foster grandmother's home on Benaroon Drive almost six years ago.

Investigators are focusing on an area near an old saw mill, where convicted paedophile Frank Abbott lived in a caravan at the time of the toddler's disappearance in September 2014.

Armed with brush cutters and spades, officers and SES volunteers also spent hours cutting through thick bush around Walkers Creek next to an old train line.

The coronial inquest into the boy's suspected murder has previously heard the 79-year-old Abbott would often ramble to neighbours about the smell of a "dead human" near Herons Creek.

Shop owner Jan Anderson told the inquest Abbott became obsessed with the Tyrrell case.

"He used to go on and on about a peculiar smell … We said it's probably a dead animal, a kangaroo."

"He said, 'no, it's not that.' We said, 'why don't you go and tell the police?'

He said, 'I'm not going to do that … because if there's something up there, I'll get blamed for it."

Abbott remains a person of interest linked to Tyrrell's disappearance, although has never been arrested or charged.

He was allowed to listen to evidence given before the coronial inquest from his prison cell at Cessnock jail, but is yet to decide if he will testify.

The ABC understands Abbott has been moved to a cell at Goulburn jail.

The inquest was suspended in March because of the coronavirus pandemic and will resume at Lidcombe Coroner's Court later this year.

 

Former detective Gary Jubelin won't give evidence to William Tyrrell inquest despite foster parents' wishes

By crime reporter Mark Reddie ABC

Former NSW detective Gary Jubelin will not be allowed to give evidence before an inquest into the disappearance of William Tyrrell, despite leading the investigation for four years.

The application for him to appear before the Lidcombe Coroner's Court in western Sydney was made by lawyer Justine Hopper, who is representing the foster parents of the missing boy.

The three-year-old vanished while playing outside his foster grandmother's home on Benaroon Drive at Kendall in September 2014.

Five months later, Mr Jubelin took charge of the case, but was stood down last year after he was charged and then convicted of illegally recording four conversations with former suspect Paul Savage.

Detective Chief Inspector David Laidlaw replaced him, but the court heard the foster parents have concerns about how the case is currently being dealt with under Strike Force Rosann.

"It may be the case that Mr Jubelin knows what matters or lines of inquiry are still outstanding and if there was a handover, what did they include? and if there wasn't, why not?" Ms Hopper said.

"These are all questions Mr Jubelin would be best placed to answer."

Counsel Assisting Gerard Craddock SC strongly opposed the application and rejected claims the case was initially treated as a missing person case, rather than a missing child investigation.

"The notion that it was treated as just a missing persons investigation is just simply wrong, completely wrong — this is just not what happened," he said.

"What they were really looking at was a possible abduction — that was more at play here."

The court also heard the foster mother, who cannot be named for legal reasons, "graphically" indicated to police that she believed her young son had been picked up and taken away.

Mr Craddock said it would be "appalling" to suggest Mr Jubelin would withhold any evidence from the inquest.

"There is no indication of evidence held by Mr Jubelin that for whatever reason hasn't been passed on," he said.

"He was absolutely dedicated to finding out what happened to William Tyrrell … but Your Honour isn't missing anything she doesn't already have before her."

Mr Craddock raised doubts about whether Mr Jubelin could offer any new or compelling evidence to the inquest.

Deputy State Coroner Harriet Grahame refused the application and said she was satisfied she had all the required evidence before her.

"I am satisfied Mr Jubelin has already provided the evidence and knowledge afforded to him," she said.

"There is little that can be gained that is not already before me — the focus must now remain on finding out what happened to William."

After William Tyrrell's disappearance, Geoff Owen helped fix the decking of his foster grandmother's home while letting convicted paedophile Frank Abbott live at his caravan near Herons Creek.

Giving evidence via video link from Port Macquarie, Mr Owen said he could not remember whether the pair spoke on the phone around the time the boy vanished from Kendall.

"I don't think so, I am pretty sure I didn't," he said.

"I don't know, you see I have contracted Parkinson's disease and my memory has been shot to pieces."

No-one has ever been arrested or charged over the suspected murder.

The inquest will continue for the remainder of this week.

No one has been ruled out in William Tyrrell investigation, inquest hears

 

 

William Tyrrell's sister tells inquest into his disappearance she will become a detective and solve abduction mystery

By crime reporter Mark Reddie ABC

William Tyrrell's 10-year-old sister has made an emotional promise to find her sibling, telling an inquest into his disappearance she wants to become a detective and solve the case.

The pair were playing "tigers" on the lawn of their foster grandmother's home at Kendall, on the NSW Mid-North Coast, when the three-year-old vanished in September 2014.

William's sister, who cannot be named for legal reasons, recorded a message which was played at the end of a 19-month inquest into the three-year-old's suspected abduction.

"I hope this speech makes you solve the case," she said.

"If it doesn't, when I am officially adult, I will be in the police force, a detective specifically, and I will find my brother and not give up until he is found.

"Please help my family, most of all me, find our precious William."

William's foster mother had been supervising the pair, but when she went inside to make a cup of tea, William disappeared.

Police have identified hundreds of persons of interest in the years since, but no-one has ever been charged.

William's foster parents — who cannot be named for legal reasons — became emotional as they handed a book of photographs to Deputy State Coroner Harriet Grahame before she closed the inquest at Lidcombe Coroners Court, in Sydney's west on Thursday.

"William was a jovial and boisterous little boy, his sense of humour and cheeky antics always made us smile," the foster father said.

"His giggles were infectious, everyone loved being around him, including us."

The initial search went for nine days before the foster family were forced to return home to Sydney.

"William's empty car seat in his sister's next to the back seat absolutely tore our hearts," the foster mother said.

"She continued to ask where her brother was... she was deeply missing her best friend... and we had no answers."

"Our family was living a nightmare," she said.

Their testimony was followed by a statement from William's biological parents, read out by their lawyer Michelle Swift, who was joined in the witness box by the biological grandmother.

William was put into foster care not long after he was born, and the court heard his biological father "has never been the same since".

"It was a traumatic experience for both. Having William taken away broke his heart. He may never stop hurting," the statement read.

"We have had six years of pain and broken promises — we are still grieving, we are angry and frustrated, and we want answers.

"We want to thank the coroner, we think she cares."

Deputy State Coroner Grahame acknowledged the suffering endured by both families and thanked them from sitting through more than a year and a half of "harrowing" evidence.

The coronial findings will be handed down on June 18, 2021.