Derek Percy could be forced to appear at inquest into Linda Stilwell disappearance

NEW laws may force accused serial killer Derek Percy to answer questions about the disappearance of seven-year-old Linda Stilwell.

NEW laws just five weeks old may be used to force accused serial killer Derek Percy to answer questions about the disappearance of seven-year-old Linda Stilwell in 1968.

If imposed, it will be the first time the so-called "immunity certificate" is used in a Victorian coronial inquest to compel a suspect to answer questions in the witness box.

But regardless of what Percy, 61, may say when called in coming days, the laws prevent anything incriminating being used in a criminal prosecution against him. Before they were adopted last month, a suspect could avoid answering any questions at an inquest on the ground he or she might incriminate themselves.

Police and the Stilwell family believe Percy killed Linda after abducting her from the St Kilda foreshore 41 years ago, but prosecutors to date have believed they did not have enough evidence against him to secure a conviction.

The inquest this week into Linda's disappearance and suspected murder heard Percy confessed to former school friend and then police officer Ron Anderson he was in St Kilda the day she went missing.

Percy also told Mr Anderson he was in Adelaide when the three Beaumont children were abducted, and in Sydney at the location three-year-old Simon Brook was killed.

Percy is serving an indefinite term for the killing of Yvonne Tuohy, 12, in 1969, after being found not guilty of murder by reason of insanity.

Deputy Coroner Iain West yesterday ruled he would not subpoena Percy's mother, Elaine, 83, to appear as a witness in the inquest.

Elizabeth McKinnon, lawyer for the Stilwells, had argued Elaine Percy visited her son in prison after his arrest for the Yvonne Tuohy killing and could have information about that or other deaths.

The inquest heard Elaine Percy, who now lives in Queensland and may have first-stage dementia, was the family matriarch who kept close watch on Derek, may have seen early signs of his sexual deviancy and destroyed some of his notes on horrific paedophile fantasies.

Meanwhile, after being criticised at the inquest, the Royal Australian Navy discovered an archived personal file on former seaman Percy, alleged to have killed up to nine children in Victoria, NSW, the ACT and South Australia during the 1960s, including while he was in the navy and stationed at naval barracks.

Ms McKinnon believes the Percy file may contain information the Navy would be "uncomfortable" releasing.

The inquest had heard Linda Read, then a young girl, was stalked by a man fitting Percy's description near the Cerberus base at Western Port just months before the Tuohy killing.

Ms Read identified navy stickers on the stalker's vehicle, which matched a description of Percy's Datsun wagon, and her father made a complaint to naval police at the base where Percy was then stationed.

Percy is expected to be called to answer questions at the inquest once the navy retrieves the file from its archives, which is expected to take place overnight.

The inquest continues.