William Tyrrell cops at war: Police boss fires back at ex-detective Gary Jubelin and says unlike the former lead investigator he’s ‘not a shoot-from-the-hip guy’
- Police Commissioner Mick Fuller opened up about William Tyrrell investigation
- He said the investigation was left in a ‘bit of a mess’ when it was handed over
- Fuller said the team were looking at people who ‘clearly’ had no part in the case
Top cop Mick Fuller has blasted the former detective leading the William Tyrrell case which he says was left in ‘a bit of a mess’.
The three-year-old vanished from his foster grandmother’s home in Kendall, on the state’s mid north coast, seven years ago.
Opening up about the case which remains unsolved, the NSW police commissioner said the team running the investigation had spent too much time pursuing people who ‘clearly’ weren’t involved in William’s disappearance.
Gary Jubelin, one of the lead detectives, was removed from the case after unlawfully recording an interview with a person of interest.
After Mr Fuller labelled the investigation a ‘mess’, Mr Jubelin hit back saying ‘Fuller is ultimately responsible for the investigation’ as he is the police commissioner.
William Tyrrell vanished from his foster grandmother’s home in Kendall, on the state’s mid north coast seven years ago
‘To suggest that a commissioner is going to run the investigative strategies for the case is a bit ridiculous,’ Mr Fuller told The Australian in response.
‘And no commissioner, no superintendent, is going to sign off on the illegal activity he [Jubelin] was ultimately convicted of.’
The top cop added he always ‘calculates the risks’ of every decision he makes in the role, and says criticism is part of the job.
‘I’m not a shoot-from-the-hip guy,’ he said.
Investigations into William’s case recently ramped up with a renewed search of the Kendall property and his foster mother named as a person of interest.
NSW Police Commissioner Mick Fuller said the former detectives leading the case left it in a ‘bit of a mess’
Gary Jubelin was the lead detective investigating William’s disappearance before he was removed from the case
Both she and her husband have vehemently denied any involvement in the three-year-old’s disappearance.
Earlier this week, radio broadcaster Chris Smith leapt to the foster mum’s defence and revealed why he’s convinced she had no role in the boy’s disappearance.
Smith said William’s foster parents have been ‘petrified’ and ‘wracked with fragility’ in his communication with them in the wake of recent developments in the case.
‘If the foster mother is guilty of this, she is the greatest actor in Australian criminal history,’ Smith told 2GB colleague Ben Fordham on his breakfast program on Monday.
The woman and her husband were recently charged with the assault of a child who is not William Tyrrell, which Smith also ‘[doesn’t] believe for a second’.
‘Anything is possible but I know these people, and I don’t buy it,’ he said.
‘They are both professional people from a comfortable part of Sydney, are level-headed and decent. I can’t believe this for a second.
‘She more than anyone in this whole case has pushed the police to remain on the case. She’s gone to the coronial inquiry, urging police to not shelve the disappearance of William Tyrrell and to keep looking.
‘Why would someone do that when if they’re guilty, they’re only encouraging people to come back to her.’
A renewed search around the home William was last seen was launched last month