William Tyrrell’s foster parents launch appeal against intimidation convictions

William Tyrrell’s foster parents have launched an appeal against their criminal records after phone taps led to their convictions for intimidating a child who is not William.

William Tyrrell’s foster parents have launched an appeal against their sentences and convictions for intimidating a child who is not William.

William’s foster mother and foster father were sentenced in March for intimidating another foster child in their custody.

The court was told the 57-year-old foster father had sworn and shouted at the child, causing the child to cry while on the way to school.

The foster father could be heard in covert police recordings telling the child “every f**king day” and later to “move, f**king, move”.

William Tyrrell’s foster parents are appealing their convictions and sentences for intimidating a child who is not William. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Jeremy Piper

The 58-year-old foster mother was sentenced for kicking the child, hitting them with a wooden spoon and threatening to slap them during heated arguments.

She was sentenced to a 12-month community corrections order, while her partner was ordered to serve a 12-month good behaviour bond.

The child was not William, who hasn’t been seen since vanishing as a three-year-old in 2014 while at his foster grandmother’s home at Kendall on the NSW Mid-North Coast.

A lawyer for both foster parents appeared in Sydney Downing Centre District Court on Tuesday to lodge an appeal against their sentences and convictions.

The Crown prosecutor asked for a three-week adjournment to allow time to co-ordinate the appeal requests.

William Tyrrell disappeared in 2014 without a trace.

He was three years old.

Acting Judge Paul Conlon granted the request and noted the matter would be ready to be set down for an appeal hearing when it returned to court in July.

The charges laid against the foster parents arose after police placed surveillance devices in their home and car under the auspices of Strike Force Rosann, which was set up to investigate William’s disappearance.

The lawful phone taps secretly recorded 1000 hours of audio over 14 months, some of which formed the basis for the intimidation charges against the foster parents.

No one has ever been charged over William’s disappearance and the foster parents have continued to deny any knowledge or involvement.

Originally published as William Tyrrell’s foster parents launch appeal against intimidation convictions