Articles

William Tyrrell’s foster parents have been charged with common assault of a child.

This comes less than a day after police applied for an apprehended violence order (AVO) against the pair.

Both cases are listed at Hornsby Local Court in late November 2021.

These charges do not relate to William Tyrrell.

Court Attendance Notice Served on Common Assault Lawyers

Police announced that court attendance notices were served on the foster parents’ common assault lawyers.

The 56-year-old foster mother and 54-year-old foster father of Tyrell cannot be identified for legal reasons.

A statement from police said, “Following inquiries, Strike Force Rosann detectives served Court Attendance Notices on legal representatives of a 56-year-old woman and a 54-year-old man earlier today.”

“As part of ongoing investigations under Strike Force Rosann, detectives from the Homicide Squad received information relating to the suspected assault of a child at a home on Sydney’s Upper North Shore,” a NSW Police spokesperson said.

Each were charged with common assault just hours after police had applied for an avo against the pair. You can read about the AVO against William Tyrell’s foster parents here.

The statement went on to read, “As part of ongoing investigations under Strike Force Rosann, detectives from the homicide squad received information relating to the suspected assault of a child at a home on Sydney’s upper north shore.”

The pair are scheduled to appear in Hornsby Court House on 23 November 2021.

However, earlier this year the Chief Magistrate of the NSW Local Court released a memorandum which allowed many appearances to occur by email.

New Leads in William Tyrell Case

This follows news that the foster mother, was now a ‘person of interest’ in the William Tyrell case, although there is no suggestion she is guilty of any crime.

The 56-year-old had been caring for William and his sister since March 2012.

On Monday, NSW Police Commissioner Mick Fuller said “there is one person in particular we are looking closely at”.

Police also seized a vehicle that once belonged to William Tyrrell’s foster grandmother.

The vehicle, a silver Mazda hatchback, was seized from a home in Gymea, in the Sutherland Shire, under a coronial order on 9 November 2021.

It is currently being kept at a secure facility. Forensic examinations and analysis is taking place on the car. Detectives say that this will take “several weeks”.

The car belonged to William’s foster grandmother at the time he went missing. She died in March, aged 88. Police are said to be investigating whether the vehicle was used to move the child’s body after his death.

A woman at the house in Gymea told reporters on 17 November 2021 that she did not know the foster family and declined to comment further about how she came into possession of the car.

Gary Jubelin Responds to Criticism

The former lead detective in the William Tyrrell case, Gary Jubelin recently responded to criticism from current NSW Police Commissioner Mick Fuller.

Fuller suggested that “time was wasted” during the early years of the investigation, “looking at some persons of interest that were clearly not”.

Jubelin rejected the Commissioner’s claim that the investigation was “in a shambles” when he was in charge.

Rather, Gary Jubelin said that the William Tyrrell case was the most closely monitored investigation in New South Wales. 

“I did monthly reports, detailing what I was doing, what suspects I was targeting, what the future directions were. They were signed off by all my chain of command, up to assistant commissioner level, and there was not one ounce of criticism in the whole four years I ran that investigation.”

Mr Jubelin headed the William Tyrrell investigation for a period of four years from early 2015 until he was removed from the case in March 2019. To date, no one has been charged with common assault or any other offence in connection with the case.

He resigned from the police force shortly afterwards.

In April 2020, he was convicted of making four illegal recordings of interviews with a person of interest in the case and fined $10,000.

In a radio interview, Jubelin revealed that he interrogated the missing boy’s foster-parents and placed a listening device in their car before they were ruled out as suspects.

This has raised eyebrows given Police today have listed the foster mother as a person of interest.

Nobody has been charged over the disappearance and suspected death of William from his foster-grandmother’s Kendall property on the NSW Mid North Coast in 2014.

Common Assault Charges in NSW

Section 61 of the Crimes Act 1900 (NSW) sets out that common assault is an act whereby a person intentionally or recklessly causes another person to apprehend immediate and unlawful violence.

To establish common assault charges in NSW, the prosecution must prove the following:

1. You committed an act; and
2. This act caused immediate and unlawful violence to the alleged victim, OR caused the alleged victim to apprehend immediate and unlawful violence; and
3. You had the requisite intent (recklessness is sufficient)

If you have been charged with common assault, our assault solicitors can give you immediate advice on all of the possible defences open to you. Some defences to common assault include:

1. Self defence: Your actions were a reasonable response in the circumstances as you perceived them.
2. No hostility: You did not have the intent to cause immediate and unlawful violence. This could be if your touching of the alleged victim was an accident or socially acceptable/necessary contact (eg. touching someone to get their attention).
3. Consent: The alleged victim consented to the touching
4. Duress: You were forced to commit the assault
5. Necessity: Your actions were necessary in the circumstances

There is a defence of ‘lawful correction’ if you hit your child to discipline them. However, your actions must be reasonable. Hitting your child lightly with minimal pain would likely fall into this defence. However, if your child suffers marks or bruising, this would likely not be considered reasonable.

Hitting your child with an object, such as a wooden spoon may not be reasonable if it causes significant pain and/or any lasting marks. 

It is important to obtain advice from a specialist assault lawyer who has successfully defended hundreds of these charges. You can view some recent assault cases here. Call Astor Legal on (02) 7804 2823. Or, you can email info@astorlegal.com.au.

We have offices throughout the Sydney metropolitan area where you can speak to our Sydney CBD, Liverpool or Criminal Lawyers in Parramatta. We can arrange a conference for you with a Law Society Accredited Specialist in assault offences.

While jail is a possibility, only 6% of offenders are sentenced to full-time imprisonment. More significantly, the overwhelming majority of offenders received convictions for this offence. The rate of convictions increases for domestic violence common assault.

If this is your first offence, you will generally be dealt with more leniently by the Court. A list of 10728 first offence Common Assault sentencing cases in the Local Court suggests that you will be far more likely to receive a Section 10 dismissal if you have no prior record. However, there are still a large amount of individuals who are convicted despite it being their first offence.