Latest police theory on William Tyrrell to be probed at inquest
A court has heard new information about a search conducted three years ago to find missing boy William Tyrrell.
Police have still gathered no forensic evidence explaining how William Tyrrell went missing 10 years ago, the long-running inquest into the toddler’s disappearance was told as it resumed.
William, who was three when he went missing, was reportedly last seen wearing his Spider-Man suit at his foster grandmother’s home at Benaroon Dr, Kendall on the morning of September 12, 2014.
On Monday, the Lidcombe Coroner’s Court heard the inquest into William’s fate was sitting again to review NSW Police’s latest “theory” on how the child vanished.
Gerard Craddock SC, the Counsel Assisting the Coroner, said a statement from the lead investigator on the case Detective Chief Inspector David Laidlaw had been heavily redacted as it was “in the form of one person’s opinions about what evidence shows”.
Mr Laidlaw will not be called to give evidence despite leading Strike Force Rosann since 2019, as news.com.au first revealed.
The inquest was told the theory, which has been widely reported, was that William “must have died in a fall” and his foster mother hid his body out of fear of losing access to another child in her care.
“The determination of this inquest at this stage is to concentrate on facts,” Mr Craddock said.
“Insofar as advocates wish to put forward inferences, they can do so, so long as they take into account all of the evidence and provide Your Honour with assistance – not of opinions – but of proper fact findings processes.”
Mr Craddock provided an overview of what the inquest has heard since it began in 2019, and revealed Strike Force Rosann detectives had not recovered any physical evidence during an extensive search of bushland in Kendall three years ago.
“It’s beyond any argument now that William Tyrrell has not been found,” he said.
“It’s beyond argument that no forensic evidence has been located at 48 Benaroon Drive or anywhere else that provides a clue for the reason for his disappearance.”
Mr Craddock also said it was beyond doubt no eye witness has provided any evidence about how William left the boundaries of the Benaroon Drive home, and William “has not been seen by any identifiable person since”.
The senior lawyer spoke about several people who were interviewed as potential suspects over the years before attention turned to the foster mother, who cannot be identified.
He said the lack of evidence – including a body – meant “there was a low bar in becoming a person of interest” and “given the dearth of evidence the police had to start somewhere in the hope of generating leads”.
The high-profile 2021 search of land at the corner of Batar Creek Rd and Cobb and Co Rd, where police suspect William’s body was dumped, displayed a “further level of intensity and minute planning” than already thorough searches conducted in the past, the court heard.
Even still it did not find fresh evidence at the site located a short trip from Benaroon Dr, Mr Craddock revealed to the court.
This week sworn evidence the foster mother previously gave with the secretive NSW Crime Commission will be played to the inquest before Magistrate Harriet Grahame.
The evidence has not been made public in its entirety before.
The woman has always denied involvement in William’s disappearance, and last month told news.com.au in a statement she maintains the little boy was “taken”.
She has claimed for years of seeing two unknown cars parked on the secluded street on the morning of September 12, 2014.
Mr Craddock told the inquest on Monday there were two other people – the Crabbes – on Benaroon Dr who also told police of hearing a car on the street that morning.
It was determined the car was heard by the Crabbes about 10.08am to 10.13am, which was around the time William was meant to have disappeared.
“People in Benaroon Drive sometimes hear cars entering their territory by reason of their infrequency,” Mr Craddock said.
“And although some have said no cars were heard on the morning of 12 September … Mrs Crabbe has given compelling evidence there was at least one car heard on Benaroon Drive.”
The inquest continues.