Shock twist in William Tyrrell inquest as final hearing dates vacated

The final block of hearings in the William Tyrrell inquest have been vacated, with the coroner to hand down her findings at a later date.

The final block of the William Tyrrell inquest has been vacated.

The inquest into the disappearance of the three-year-old was set to resume at the NSW Coroner’s Court at Lidcombe on Monday for the final tranche of evidence.

However, the court confirmed that Deputy State Coroner Harriet Grahame had closed the evidence.

All parties will now provide written closing submissions to the coroner, with Ms Grahame to hand down her findings at a later date.

She has not fixed a date for her findings.

The inquest was examining William’s disappearance from his foster grandmother’s home at Kendall on the NSW Mid North Coast in September 2014.

William Tyrrell disappeared in 2014. Picture: Supplied

The inquest ran for 18 months before it concluded in October 2020.

Ms Grahame was due to hand down her findings the following year, but the inquest was reopened as police carried out a comprehensive review of the case that resulted in a renewed focus on a fresh police theory.

According to the police theory, William died in an accidental fall from a balcony at his foster grandmother’s home and the foster mother discovered him in the ferns below.

According to the unconfirmed police theory, the foster mother placed his body in her mother’s Mazda 3 and drove to the corner of Batar Creek Rd and Cobb and Co Rd, near a riding school, and dumped his body in undergrowth.

The woman, who cannot be identified, has consistently denied the allegation or having any knowledge of William’s whereabouts. No charges have been laid.

William’s foster parents have denied any knowledge of the boy’s disappearance. Picture: NCA NewsWire/David Swift.

The inquest has been told that she was grilled on the theory when she appeared before the secretive NSW Crime Commission.

“I didn’t take William. I haven’t dumped his body,” she said in a video of her Crime Commission evidence, which was played to the court earlier this year.

During her testimony, the foster mother said that on the day William went missing, before she had called triple-0, she took her mother’s car, drove out of Benaroon Drive and turned right onto Batar Creek Rd.

She said she came to a clearing, near a riding school on the corner of Cobb and Co Rd.

She said she was looking for William but soon came to the conclusion it was “ridiculous”.

The inquest was previously told that the police were set to make an application for the foster mother to be recalled as a witness during the final block of hearings.

However, that will not take place after the final hearing dates were vacated.