COVID-19 forces suspension of William Tyrrell inquest

The inquest has been suspended before evidence can be taken from a local pedophile who has been watching proceedings from a jail cell.

The inquest into the disappearance of William Tyrrell has been suspended due to COVID-19. Picture: Supplied

The inquest into the disappearance of William Tyrrell has been forced into a COVID-19 adjournment, before evidence could be taken from a local pedophile who watched proceedings from a jail cell for more than a week.

Mr Frank Abbott, 79, a man twice cleared of murder and convicted on twelve charges related to the molestation of children, who has been accused also of raping dogs and stealing charity tins, was not able to give evidence before virus fears closed the court.

Frank Abbott. Picture: AAP

NSW deputy state coroner Harriet Grahame, who has been presiding over the inquest for more than a year, expressed deep regret, but assured the public: “There’s nothing about this matter that I consider to be cold case.”

The investigation will continue, she said, and in fact they have new hope of discovering what happened to William, who has been missing from the mid-north coast village of Kendall since 12 September 2014.

The counsel assisting, Mr Gerard Craddock, agreed, saying: “Regardless of what happens to these proceedings before this court, the police investigation into William’s disappearance is continuing.

“There is no halt to that. That is going to roll on.

“There has already been a witness that we had no idea about has come forward, who will be speaking to police.

“The investigation is not finished.”

Ms Grahame said: “It is really unfortunate that we will finish evidence (but) we will come back and we will finish this inquest.

“We should not all be sitting here in close proximity to each other. People’s immune systems can’t cope. All of this has been taken into account.

“We will finish today. And I’m sorry. I know how frustrating that must be. But today’s it.”

The court took its final evidence from two members of Mr Ray Porter’s family.

Mr Porter, who is deceased, was believed to be quite friendly with Mr Abbott. They both lived on the NSW mid-north coast, and liked fishing.

The court has previously heard that Mr Porter, who spent his final days in a nursing home fighting kidney failure, had told a nurse that he’d picked up “his best mate and missing toddler William Tyrrell” from behind a shed on the mid-north coast, and drove them 300km north.

Nurse Kirston Okpegbue said that Mr Porter had claimed to have some knowledge of William’s disappearance.

“When Ray was talking to you and had this strange conversation with you, did he say something about picking up his best friend with a cute little boy?” Mr Craddock asked.

“Yes,” she replied.

Kirston Okpegbue. Picture: AAP

Ray’s brother, Tom Porter, confirmed for the court that detectives had visited Ray on his death bed to talk about William Tyrrell.

He was “being harassed” about things “we knew nothing about” he said.

“He complained that police were badgering him all the time, asking silly questions, he didn’t know how to answer them,” Mr Tom Porter said.

“He had a lot of trouble hearing … He said, I don’t know why they keep coming to see me all the time … Apparently they were coming into the nursing home, and he can’t think, he can hardly talk, he’s had meningitis, people don’t know what it does to the brain.”

He agreed that he’d told his brother: “Don’t talk to the police. Talk to me, I can translate for you. But it didn’t get that far because he passed away.”

Mr Tom Porter’s wife, Irma Noleen Porter, agreed that detectives had spoken to Ray about the William Tyrrell case.

Ray had become “very upset and worried”, she said.

“He was telling us he was quite upset,” she said. “He had trouble remembering things. He did tell us about the police being there.”

She said he told her: “I have nothing to tell the police but they keep coming.”

“He was really quite ill,” she said. “The last six weeks before he died, his memory was very bad, his health was very bad.”

The inquest has now been adjourned to a date to be set, sometime after June 2020.