Bill Spedding, the man named by NSW Police as a “person of interest” in the continuing investigation into the disappearance of toddler William Tyrrell, has been arrested on unrelated charges.
Spedding, a 63-year-old whitegoods repairman from Bonny Hills on the mid-North Coast, is being questioned by police at Port Macquarie Police Station in relation to the alleged sexual assault of two girls, aged three and six, in Sydney in 1987.
Detectives arrested Spedding at his property in Wandoo Place outside Bonny Hills this morning. Detective Inspector Gary Jubelin and another officer spent yesterday at Spedding’s home, although they declined to detail what they spoke to Spedding about.
Police searched the property in January – digging up the front lawn and draining a septic tank – in relation to the disappearance of William Tyrrell, who vanished from his grandmother’s house in nearby Kendall on September 12 last year.
Spedding was named as a “person of interest” in the ongoing police investigations several weeks later, when police discovered that he had been at the grandmother’s house just days before William and his family were due to arrive. Spedding was repairing a washing machine for the woman.
In other developments, The Daily Telegraph reported today that while at the home, Spedding was made aware of William’s impending visit during a conversation with the grandmother, dispelling suggestions that no one knew that the family was due to arrive.
Spedding has repeatedly denied any involvement in William’s disappearance, even appearing with his wife on national television, while police have denied that he is a suspect.
State Crime Command detectives under the command of Detective Inspector Jubelin have been based at Port Macquarie Police Station for the past week.
