Case against William Tyrrell’s foster parents delayed

The foster parents of toddler William Tyrrell won‘t face court until the end of the year as police continue investigations into claims they assaulted a child who was not the missing three-year-old.

The foster parents of toddler William Tyrrell won‘t face court until the end of the year as police continue investigations into claims they assaulted a child who was not the missing three-year-old.

Parramatta Local Court has been told that evidence from police has been late in being handed to the defence lawyers for the couple so the hearing, listed for next week, has been postponed.

It is the latest twist in the country’s highest-profile missing persons case after the little boy in the Spider-Man suit disappeared from his foster grandmother’s home at Kendall on the NSW mid-north coast on September 12, 2014.

Police who initially treated the disappearance as an abduction have since told a court that the foster mum, 57, is the sole person of interest and that they believe she used her mother’s car to bury his body after he accidentally fell from a second-floor balcony.

Missing boy William Tyrrell wearing the actual Spiderman suit in which he disappeared.

The grandmother has since died.

No one has been charged over his disappearance and there has been no evidence made public that implicates William’s foster mother. She strenuously denies any involvement or wrongdoing.

No evidence of William has been found.

The foster mother has pleaded not guilty to two counts of common assault of another child and last year failed to have them dealt with on mental health grounds.

She has also denied two counts of stalking and intimidation.

William Tyrell’s foster grandmother’s former home in Kendall.

William’s foster father, 55, has pleaded not guilty to common assault and stalk and intimidate and is subject to an apprehended violence order stopping him approaching the child.

Their cases were due to be heard next week but have been postponed until September 4 at Parramatta Local Court for a number of reasons including the late service of the police brief of evidence on the defence.

“The adjournment was opposed by the police who said they were ready to go ahead with the case.”

Police allege the woman assaulted child by kicking them in the thigh, causing “pain, discomfort and bruising,” and hitting them with a wooden spoon, courts have been told.

Last year a magistrate found the woman not guilty of knowingly giving false or misleading evidence to a secret two-day NSW Crime Commission hearing when she said she did not strike the child with a wooden spoon.

The commission was examining William Tyrrell’s disappearance.

Missing three-year-old William Tyrrell whose foster parents have denied assaulting another child.

Magistrate Miranda Moody said she could not find beyond a reasonable doubt that the woman had willingly lied. The magistrate said the foster mother had made admissions about striking the child on other occasions before denying hitting the child with a spoon.

During that court case, Strike Force Rosann Detective Sergeant Andrew Lonergan told the court that the charges were designed to elicit information about what happened to William.

“Our main objective is to find out what happened to William Tyrrell,” Sergeant Lonergan said .

“I have formed the view that (the foster mother) knows where William Tyrrell is.”

The foster mother of William Tyrrell leaves Downing Centre. Picture: Jeremy Piper

Covert recordings allegedly captured the child screaming “no, please, no” and sobbing as she is struck with the spoon. Another recording from a phone tap allegedly captures the woman telling her husband that the couple had a ”big problem” because the child had a ”massive welt” on her leg.

William‘s foster father, known by court order as JS, is also charged with lying to the NSW Crime Commission and that case is listed for a mention at Downing Centre Local Court on February 13. He has pleaded not guilty.