‘I hid him’: Tyrrell’s grandmother speaks

EXCLUSIVE

William Tyrrell was reported missing more than once, with his biological grandmother admitting she was the “mastermind” of his first disappearance – and that the state government failed its responsibility to protect him.

Natalie Collins, whose three-year-old grandson was last seen alive on 12 September 2014, said she arranged for him to be taken into hiding two years earlier, after a court ordered William be taken from his parents.

“So I hid them,” Ms Collins told the second episode of news.com.au’s podcast Witness: William Tyrrell, published today.

“I hid them for three months after I knew (state government officials) were going to take William … I arranged it all.”

Asked if that made her the mastermind of William’s first disappearance, which caused police to set up a dedicated strike force to find him, Ms Collins said “Yeah, that’s right”.

“I should have taken him myself … Then no one would have been able to take him off me. That’s what I should have done,” she said.

The court ordered William be taken from his biological parents, Brendan Collins and Karlie Tyrrell, in February 2012, when he was seven months old.

The NSW government Department of Family and Community Services (FaCS) had raised concerns about domestic violence and substance abuse within William’s family, the court heard.

Ms Tyrrell was in the courtroom to hear that her son would be placed under the parental responsibility of a state government minister.

The court ordered government officials would collect William from her home that afternoon, but when they arrived, the family had gone into hiding with Ms Collins.

A police strike force, codenamed Duncraig, was set up to find William, with officers making repeated visits to various addresses over the coming weeks, without success.

A second strike force, codenamed Rosann, was established after William’s disappearance in 2014.

In 2012, William was ultimately found and taken by authorities, who placed him with foster parents.

This couple, who cannot be identified, reported him missing in 2014. He has not been seen since and no one has been charged over his disappearance.

Ms Collins says the state government made the wrong decision to take William in 2012, given what has since happened, and the damage to her family as a result has been life-changing.

“These (FaCS) people didn’t do their job properly,” she said. “They failed to do their job properly.

“Because this shouldn’t happen these days with foster care children.

“What it’s done to my family from day one has stuffed all of us up,” she continued.

“I’ve got one son in rehab, I’ve got one in jail and my family has been stuffed up. I lost my son and I lost myself on the way.”

The Witness: William Tyrrell podcast also spoke to one of those officials present when William was taken from his biological mother before being placed in the care of his foster parents.

That man, who asked not to be named, said he also questions whether it was the right decision, given William’s subsequent, unsolved disappearance in September 2014.

“We take kids off … families all the time,” the man said, breaking down in tears. “You do it. It is part of the job.

“The thing I get upset about is … we took William off Karlie to protect him.

“I can still see myself walking into that bloody unit … And there was William, on the floor.

“And I just think … did we do the right thing?

“Would he still be alive? Maybe.”

The man said other traumatic incidents he had seen in his career, “they’re gone. They’re in the back of my head … they’re squared away.

“They visit occasionally, but 99 per cent of the time I’m fine. (It) doesn’t affect me day to day.

“But William – William does. Not day to day, but it does affect me.

“Because it keeps coming back.”

An inquest into William’s suspected death is due to resume next month.

A spokeswoman for the Department and Communities and Justice said they were unable to comment.