William Tyrrell’s family secures Legal Aid in fight for answers

Biological family of William Tyrrell secure Legal Aid in fight for answers from NSW Police, FACS.

Three-year-old William Tyrrell went missing from a home in Kendall, NSW, in 2014. Picture: AAP

The biological family of William Tyrrell is preparing for a legal battle against the NSW Police Force and the state’s Department of Family and Community Services, after their three-year-old son went missing from foster care.

The family, which cannot be named, has been fighting for several months to secure legal representation for the coronial inquest into William’s disappearance.

They sat through the first tranche of hearings without a lawyer because they were unable to ­afford one, and therefore weren’t able to cross-examine witnesses about how William could have disappeared while in state care.

The family does not accept the official version of events: that he was simply taken, and now can’t be found.

NSW Legal Aid approved an application from William’s father for aid in a letter yesterday, saying: “We have approved your application. We will pay for a lawyer to represent you in your case.”

William’s father argued that the case was one of “legitimate public concern”.

The family’s application for Legal Aid made note of the fact that the parents had been unable to question the foster parents, or Family and Community Services caseworkers during the first tranche of the inquest.

William’s parents were cross-examined, without a lawyer, but could not ask questions because they were not represented at the bar table.

William was removed from his parents’ care in 2012. He went missing from the village of Kendall, on the NSW mid-north coast, in 2014. He was dressed as Spider-Man, and in the care of his foster parents at the time.

An independent child rights advocate helped William’s father with his application for Legal Aid, saying William’s disappearance while under the care of the minister for Family and Community Services was “obviously of public interest”.

The foster carers, who cannot be named, have engaged their own lawyer for the inquest, as has FaCS, which removed William from the care of his parents.

The Salvation Army, which managed William’s care through the Young Hope program, has its own lawyer.

The aid has been granted “for representation in proceedings in the Coroner’s Court”, which ­resumes on August 5.

The action came as the former lead detective on the case, Gary Jubelin, officially departed the NSW police force yesterday.

He has been charged with five criminal offences related to his handling of the case. He denies wrongdoing and will be represented in court by former crown prosecutor Margaret Cunneen SC.

In his application for Legal Aid, William’s father said: “I am the ­father of four beautiful children, one of which is the missing boy, William Tyrrell. It is in the public interest to find out what has happened to my son.”

William’s father said in his ­application that much of what had been published about his family was false, and had added to his distress. “He is still my son, regardless of his in-care status, and I am still his father,” he said.

He said the new lead detective, David Laidlaw, had said to him he had been told that the family had declined an offer of Legal Aid for the inquest. “I would like it stated on the ­record that I have never been ­approached regarding legal representation,” he said.

He said Detective Laidlaw then suggested he make the formal ­application. He said proceedings had not been “fair and balanced” and he had felt uncomfortable being cross-examined without a lawyer present. He wanted to ask the foster parents what had happened, but had no ability to do so.

“If I had been awarded legal representation, I would be more informed about the brief of evidence,” he said. “William was under the care of the minister at the time he disappeared. The ­department had a legal obligation to keep my son safe from harm.”

He said public interest in the case had motivated police to offer a $1 million reward, and to authorise a “Where’s William?” information campaign on Facebook.