The foster parents of missing child William Tyrrell will plead guilty to a downgraded charge after they procured a third party to place dummy bids at the auction of their former home, which sold for $4.1 million.
The 58-year-old woman and 57-year-old man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, faced Parramatta Local Court on Friday for an anticipated hearing in the case before it was adjourned.
The foster parents of William Tyrrell leave Parramatta Local Court on Friday.Credit: AAP
Homicide detectives investigating William’s disappearance charged the pair last year with one count each of attempting to dishonestly obtain financial advantage by deception for asking a man to make fake bids at their December 2020 auction in an attempt to increase the sale price.
Evidence about the auction emerged on listening devices police had planted during the long-running investigation into William’s suspected death.
The couple have not been charged over his disappearance and deny any involvement.
On Friday, the court was told the fraud offences would be withdrawn and replaced with a regulatory offence under the Property and Stock Agents Act, which carries a maximum penalty of $27,500.
William Tyrrell vanished in 2014.
When the matter returns to court in September and the new charges are formally laid, the pair will plead guilty. They declined to comment as they left court.
The couple’s lawyer Lauren MacDougall told the Herald the original charge had been “a novel use of a fraud offence in the circumstances”.
“We were unable to locate any other case whereby a person has either been convicted or charged with a criminal fraud offence relating to conduct involving dummy bidding,” MacDougall said.
She said the charge her clients agreed to plead guilty to is “the most apposite offence in light of the criminal conduct alleged”.
“They regret and are sorry for their actions, which is why today the matter resolved the way it did,” she said.
William, 3, vanished from his foster grandmother’s home in the NSW Mid North Coast town of Kendall on September 12, 2014.
Despite a lengthy investigation by Strike Force Rosann and an inquest that began in 2019, no trace of him has ever been found.
In June, police recommended that prosecutors lay criminal charges against the foster mother, alleging she covered up William’s accidental death.
The foster mother’s lawyer, Sharon Ramsden, said in a statement at the time that her client has always said, and maintains, that “she has nothing to do with William’s disappearance”.
“She desperately urges the police to resume the investigation into finding out what happened to William,” Ramsden said.
The auction case will return to court on September 4.
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