Former suspect in William Tyrrell case opens up on pain of being falsely accused

The man once deemed the prime suspect in the disappearance of toddler William Tyrrell has now spoken out, claiming the false accusation has ruined his life and that the damage can never be undone.

Speaking in an exclusive interview with the ABC’s Four Corners program, which airs tonight, Bill Spedding points a finger at the NSW Police for their treatment of him throughout the case and says their actions have caused a great deal of distress for himself and his family over the years.

Spedding’s name was initially brought into the spotlight shortly after William tragically went missing from his foster grandmothers’s home in Kendall, NSW on September 12, 2014. The then three-year-old was last seen playing with his sister, wearing a distinctive Spider-Man suit.

Just days prior Spedding had attended the property to repair a washing machine and before long his name was thrown into the mix as a person-of-interest. According to the ABC, the grandfather was asked to attend the Port Macquarie Police Station a few days after William was reported missing.

Months later though, in January 2015, things took a turn for the worse when Spedding was led out of his home into a police car in front of a crowd of journalists as detectives raided his property. Speaking about the way police handled the case, Spedding said he can still remember their words of warning to him during a lengthy interview.

Five years after 'the boy in the Spiderman suit' vanished, the baffling case of 3-year-old William Tyrell remains unsolved. Next week, the man wrongly accused over William's disappearance speaks publicly for the first time on #4Corners pic.twitter.com/urjhG2gVpj

— Sally Neighbour (@neighbour_s) October 31, 2019

“[They said] We know you did it, we’re gonna [sic] get you, I’m gonna come and arrest you,’ and I said ‘I haven’t done anything, what are you talking about?” the grandfather claims on tonight’s episode of Four Corners. But that wasn’t the end of it and Spedding also reveals that his grandchildren were then taken away from him by child welfare authorities following the raid.

Spedding also takes aim at former detective Gary Jubelin during the episode – who was removed from the case this year for alleged misconduct – and claims that he threatened him by saying: “We’re going to ruin you”.

Although Spedding’s name has since been cleared, with his whereabouts at the time of William’s disappearance finally corroborated during the coronial inquest earlier this year, he says the pain of being wrongly accused continues to haunt him. “Describing the feeling is very difficult, but it’s sad,” he tells Four Corners. “We just don’t know when someone’s going to pop out of the woodwork and grab me around the throat again, and say, ‘you’re Bill Spedding. What’d you do with William?'”

Spedding’s appearance on Four Corners comes months after the last photos taken of William before his mysterious disappearance were released to the public. Marking the fifth anniversary of his disappearance, the NSW Coroners Court released a series of photographs of the little boy taken by his foster mother outside the Kendall house. In the four previously unseen snaps, William can be seen happily colouring with his sister in that now-iconic Spider-Man outfit.

The Four Corners program featuring Bill Spedding will feature on ABC tonight at 8.30pm.