Experts to clarify Tyrrell photo time stamp puzzle

Expert evidence will address confusion over the time-stamp on the last known photograph of William Tyrrell.

Confusion over the time-stamp on the last known photograph of William Tyrrell will be addressed by the introduction of additional ­“expert evidence”, a coroner’s court has confirmed.

The Australian on Monday revealed uncertainty about the time stamps on the now-famous photo of William in his Spider-Man suit.

The confusion exists because a metadata report, obtained by The Australian, has both a “time created” stamp of 7.39am on September 12, 2014 — the morning of William’s disappearance — and a “corrected time” stamp of 9.37am.

There are several possible ­explanations for confusion over the time-stamp: the timer on the camera may have been faulty or set to a different time zone, for ­example. The NSW Coroner’s Court on Monday released a section of transcript from the inquiry into William’s disappearance, dealing with the issue.

In the extract, from August 28, the counsel assisting the coroner, Gerard Craddock, told the court: “I’ve just been reminded there was going to be an application by Ms (Michelle) Swift (who rep­resents William’s biological ­father) today. We’re not going to deal with that today because we need to obtain some further evidence which will relate to that ­application.”

The coroner, Harriet Grahame, replied: “Yes, I think it’s ­important that that’s dealt with in detail, and we do need that further statement. It’s important.”

Ms Swift then said: “Certainly … and if I can park that application until later.”

Ms Grahame interjected: “I’m aware of what the application is. I think it’s important we’re pursuing it, and we’ll come back to it.”

Mr Craddock then said: “We’re going to be obtaining some expert evidence that’s going to deal with that issue, amongst other things.”

The photograph is a key piece of evidence because it provides “proof of life” for William on the day of his disappearance.

His foster mother has testified that he was playing outside her mother’s house at Benaroon Drive in Kendall on the mid-north coast of NSW about 10.15am on September 12, 2014, give or take 15 minutes.

She has testified that everything suddenly went quiet. She spent some time searching for him before reporting him missing to triple-0 at 10.57am.

The Australian has obtained an extract from an interview conducted by former lead detective Gary Jubelin that suggests he believed that the last known photograph was taken at 9.37am, and that the “corrected time” on the image was the right one.

In an interview with William’s foster father, Mr Jubelin said: “I’ll show you a sequence of five photos … we know this is a well-known photo and that’s 9.37am … that’s the last confirmed sighting of William.”

The foster father agrees, saying: “Yep.”

The foster father has testified that he left the house about 9am to make a Skype call and pick up a script from a local chemist. He sent a text message about 10.30am to say he was on his way back, and pulled into the driveway to find everyone searching for William.

Police have ruled both the foster parents and William’s biological parents out of their investigation and Mr Craddock has said William is likely to be among the 3 per cent of murdered children snatched and killed by a stranger, who happened to see him run out in his Spider-Man suit, unattended for just a few ­moments.