As the 10th anniversary of William Tyrrell’s disappearance approaches, loved ones of the missing boy took a step closer to receiving answers Tuesday.
The long-running and delayed investigation has been scheduled for a final set of hearings later this year.
The three-year-old boy disappeared from his foster grandmother’s home in Kendall on September 12, 2014, in what has become one of Australia’s most high-profile missing persons cases.
An inquest before Deputy State Coroner Harriet Grahame, examining William’s disappearance and presumed death, was delayed last year while prosecutors weighed charges against the boy’s adoptive mother.
Police began investigating a theory that William had died in an accidental fall from a balcony and that his foster mother had disposed of the body.
William’s adoptive mother and father have continually denied the allegation and any wrongdoing.
The long-running inquest into the disappearance of William Tyrrell, which has been plagued by lengthy delays, has been scheduled for a final block of hearings later this year.
The inquiry lasted 18 months before being adjourned in October 2020 and Ms Grahame’s findings were due to be released in June 2021.
However, the case was postponed as prosecutors evaluated evidence relating to the missing boy’s adoptive mother, who denied any knowledge of his disappearance.
The investigation is scheduled to resume with another set of hearings later this year.
During a directions hearing at the New South Wales Coroner’s Court in Lidcombe on Tuesday, Ms Grahame confirmed the dates for the final block of hearings, in the weeks commencing November 4 and December 16.
The final pieces of evidence from the inquest will now be heard just before Christmas this year, with the coroner set to release his findings at a later date.
The court was informed on Tuesday that the list of witnesses and the list of issues would be finalised this week.
The investigation had previously been put on hold after police launched fresh inquiries involving searches in Kendall, the quiet town on the mid-north coast of New South Wales where William was last seen.
The case was postponed as prosecutors weighed evidence about the missing boy’s adoptive mother (pictured right), who denies any knowledge of his disappearance.
Last year, police handed a summary of evidence to the Director of Public Prosecutions recommending that William’s foster mother be charged with perverting the course of justice and interfering with a dead body.
In court on Tuesday, Ms Grahame received a letter from the prosecution outlining the status of that request for advice.
In the letter, Director of Public Prosecutions Sally Dowling SC said her office had been asked by NSW Police in April to “stay” its request for advice until the conclusion of the final block of hearings in the inquiry.
William’s adoptive parents continue to deny any wrongdoing and the adoptive mother has not been charged.
Counsel assisting the coroner, Gerard Craddock SC, told the court last September that the prosecution’s advice was expected to be handed over to police in January this year.
However, that deadline came and went.
In September last year, the adoptive parents’ lawyer, Rylie Hahn, asked police to release any evidence.
Police have launched further investigations which included searches around Kendall, the quiet town on the mid-north coast of New South Wales where William was last seen.
Detectives carried out further excavations at new locations nearby without finding any trace of the missing boy’s body.
“William’s adoptive mother and adoptive father maintain the position of seeking disclosure of evidence which police suggest forms the basis of criminal proceedings,” Ms Hahn said last year.
‘We are halfway through the investigation and William is still missing and his case unsolved.
‘William’s foster mother maintains she had nothing to do with his disappearance… and is asking police to continue searching for William and what happened to him.’
In late 2021, police, volunteers and Strike Force Rosann detectives began a new dig for evidence in and around Kendall.
The teams searched the garden of her adoptive grandmother’s house and the nearby bushes.
In 2022, William’s adoptive mother was found not guilty of lying to the New South Wales Crime Commission.
William’s adoptive father was also acquitted of five charges of lying to the New South Wales Crime Commission in November last year.
The court was told at the time that during the Crimes Commission hearing, counsel assisting, Sophie Callan SC, questioned the foster mother about whether William had fallen from the balcony and she had disposed of the body.
The couple denied any wrongdoing or disposing of the body.