William Tyrrell cop felt bullied by boss Gary Jubelin

A policeman who worked on the William Tyrrell investigation says he was shocked his boss had him illegally record his neighbour.

Former NSW detective Gary Jubelin leaves the Downing Centre Local Court in Sydney on Friday. Picture: AAP

A policeman who worked on the William Tyrrell investigation says he was shocked when his old boss, former detective Gary Jubelin, told him to illegally record a conversation with an elderly man who lived in the street William was ­visiting when he disappeared.

Detective Senior Constable Gregory Gallyot said he complied because he feared being “bullied and intimidated” by Mr Jubelin.

“I’ve seen that before,” he said, meaning bullying. “At first I was in shock … He gave me what I would call a serious or stern look … he said ‘just do it’.”

Constable Gallyot said he knew there was no warrant for the recording. He said Mr Jubelin later told him: “Don’t save that anywhere.” But he saved it anyway, “as soon as I got back to my desk”.

Mr Jubelin has pleaded not guilty in Sydney’s Downing Centre Local Court to four charges ­related to his handling of the Tyrrell investigation. All are related to the recording of calls with Paul Savage, who was once a person of interest, but has never been charged, and has always denied any involvement in the case.

Mr Jubelin’s barrister, Margaret Cunneen SC, questioned why Constable Gallyot hadn’t refused to make the recording.

“You didn’t say anything? You didn’t say, ‘oh, I don’t want to’, or ‘I’m not going to, because that’s not the right thing to do’? You didn’t say, ‘do it yourself’, you made no protest?” she asked.

“I believe my body language did, yes,” he replied.

Asked why he hadn’t reported the matter, he said: “Fear.”

“Fear of losing your position?”

“More than that.”

“Fear for yourself?”

“Yes, as well … When I heard the words ‘just do it’ I was in fear.”

When crown prosecutor Philip Hogan SC asked him what had he feared, he said being “bullied, ­intimidated, all those things”.

Mr Hogan asked him: “By whom?”

“Mr Jubelin,” he replied.

Mr Savage, who appeared by videolink, told the court he did not know that several of his often-heated conversations with Mr ­Jubelin were being recorded.

The court has previously heard evidence that suggested Mr Jubelin may have been using his phone as back-up to the listening devices, which sometimes failed or produced tapes of poor quality.

Mr Savage was asked by Mr Hogan whether he could remember a particular phone call from Mr Jubelin in ­November 2017.

“I remember being rang by him, yeah. It was one of many,” Mr ­Savage ­replied.

“Did he tell you that he was ­recording?”

“No.”

“Did you know that he was recording you?”

“No.”

Mr Savage said he did not know that a conversation on Mr Jubelin’s return visit, on May 3, 2018, was also being recorded on Mr ­Jubelin’s mobile phone.

Ms Cunneen suggested to Mr Savage: “You always knew that he was one of the more senior officers involved in the disappearance of little William … You knew it was his job to investigate, that his job was to try to find out what happened to William Tyrrell.”

“Yes,” Mr Savage said.

“Sometimes he was very hard on you in his conversations, would that be fair?”

“He liked to be the boss, yeah.”

“Other times he was a bit more friendly?”

“Very rarely.”

“You were cranky with him sometimes?”

“If you got spoken to the way he spoke to me, you’d be cranky.”

The trial continues.