‘I didn’t do it’: widower Paul Savage accuses police of William Tyrrell ‘stitch up’

An elderly widower has accused police of trying to ‘stitch him up’ for the disappearance of missing NSW boy William Tyrrell.

Paul Savage, who is a person of interest in the disappearance of William Tyrrell, at his house in Kendall on the NSW north coast on Sunday. Picture: Nathan Edwards

An elderly widower from the mid-north coast NSW village of Kendall has accused police of trying to “stitch him up” for the disappearance of William Tyrrell, and in the process allowing the real kidnapper to “get away”.

“They messed the whole thing up,” said Paul Savage, 75, who lives opposite the house where William disappeared in September 2014.

“They went after (local white goods repairman) Bill Spedding and when they realised it wasn’t him, they came after me,” he said.

“They want to get somebody. It’s mostly (former homicide detective) Gary (Jubelin) who was telling people I must have done it, but that’s over now. They’re finished with me. I’m happy about that. I had nothing to do with it.”

William Tyrrell. Picture: AAP

Mr Savage was speaking to The Australian outside his home on Sunday, just a day ahead of the resumption of the coronial inquiry into William’s disappearance.

The inquiry, headed by NSW deputy coroner Harriet Grahame, began last March but has been plagued by long delays, adjournments and equipment failure.

It returns to Taree on Monday, with evidence expected from a possible witness to William’s disappearance, and from relatives of one of the mid-north coast’s well-known paedophiles.

Mr Savage said he did not expect to be called back to the inquest, having already testified.

“They’ve finished with me,” he said. “I’m not on their list of people any more. That’s what they told me the last time I saw them. If I can help them, I will go, but I’ve told them everything already.”

He said Mr Jubelin had accused him of taking William, “because they mucked it up from day one, and had nobody. All I did was help look for him. He made it sound like I was somebody who was hiding the truth. I always told the truth.”

Mr Jubelin was charged last year with four breaches of the Surveillance Devices Act, after an ­internal probe found he had recorded four conversations with Mr Savage, 75, on his mobile phone, without the proper warrant being in place. He quit the force, and faced court in February. A decision is expected on April 7.

Mr Jubelin has pleaded not guilty, saying he had an “operational need” to record all four conversations. He explained for the court Mr Savage was under police surveillance at the time. Listening devices had lawfully been installed in his house and car, and on his mobile phone and his landline.

Mr Jubelin told the court he used his own phone as a “back-up” recording device because the police listening devices often failed, and because he was concerned that Mr Savage would accuse him of bullying or intimidation.

Mr Savage told the court that Mr Jubelin had threatened to arrest him for the crime. However, the tape of the conversation captured no such threat.

“You’ve got a little fella missing and they want to get somebody, but I had nothing to do with it,” Mr Savage said on Sunday.

He has no history of crimes against children, or indeed against anyone. He pleaded guilty to breaching an AVO in 2014, after a local “post lady” complained that he was making her uncomfortable by telling her he loved her.

Mr Savage was at home on the morning of William’s disappearance. His late wife Heather had gone to bingo. He came to the door when a neighbour knocked, and when he heard that a “little fella” was missing he headed straight up a local fire trail. He told police he got lost and was gone about two hours. Mr Jubelin questioned Mr Savage about whether he, or his wife, had run William over.

Mr Savage’s adult children are furious about the number of times he has been questioned by police, especially without a lawyer being present.

William has not been seen since about 10.30am on Friday September 12, 2014. Aged 3, he was in the care of his foster mother, and her mother, when he went missing from the front garden.