William Tyrrell’s foster mum told crying child ‘I’ve done something I shouldn’t have done’ as the kid was taken from her care

A woman who took a child out of the care of William Tyrrell’s former foster parents says the crying child was told it wasn’t their fault when they said goodbye to their foster mother.

“I did something I shouldn’t have done,” the foster mother told the child, according to the woman who handled the paperwork.

The ex-foster parents, a 58-year-old woman and her 56-year-old partner, returned to Parramatta local court on Friday, facing allegations of child abuse and harassment.

The foster mother has pleaded guilty to hitting the child with a wooden spoon in January 2021 and kicking the child in October, but is fighting two harassment charges over incidents between January and August of that same year.

The woman’s partner has denied being guilty of allegedly grabbing the child’s neck in October 2021 and harassment in November 2020.

Neither the foster parents nor the child can be identified for legal reasons.

Megan Payne, a NSW Department of Communities and Justice official who handed over the moving papers to the couple in November 2021, said the child began to cry and hugged the foster mother, who comforted the youngsters before they were taken away.

“(The mother) said, ‘It’s not your fault… I did something I shouldn’t have done,’ Ms Payne told the court.

Ms Payne followed up on a later interview between police and the child, in which the child confided to a counselor: “My dad put his hands around my neck” and claimed the foster father had mental health and anger management issues.

Emma Ballard had counseling sessions with the child in September and October 2021 and told the court that the child did not like the rules of the foster parents.

The foster mother’s lawyer, John Stratton SC, asked the counselor whether the child reported being assaulted, intimidated or verbally abused.

William Tyrrell was three years old when he disappeared in 2014 from an estate in Kendall that belonged to his foster grandmother on the north coast of NSW.

“(They) didn’t indicate that any of this had happened,” Ms. Ballard said, though she added that she didn’t directly ask about these matters.

The child reported feeling left out and annoyed by the presence of a younger child who had been placed in the home months earlier and responded by refusing to do chores and homework, stomping around the house and slamming doors.

“All of their behavior seemed age-appropriate,” Ms. Ballard said.

The foster mother’s colleague and friend who has worked together for more than a decade recalls a disturbing phone call in which the parent reported kicking the youngster after they tried to trip the younger foster child.

“I kind of doubted that and she said, ‘No, I kicked them really hard,'” she told the court.

The friend described the foster mother as an ethical person with great integrity, who was extremely resilient and intent on providing a safe home.

Mr Stratton asked if the foster mother sounded angry when she reported kicking the child.

“She was distraught,” her friend replied.

A former teacher of the child told the court that there were disagreements between the child and the foster father when the child said one day in November 2020 that he did not want to go home.

“It seemed like a trivial disagreement with a caregiver, given what (they) said to me,” said the teacher.

She discussed it with an assistant director, who said no further action was needed.

After the prosecution closed the case on Friday, Mr Stratton requested that the allegations be laid out more clearly before Magistrate Susan McIntyre made a decision.

“It is not clear to what conduct the finding of guilt could relate,” said the lawyer.

William Tyrrell was three years old when he disappeared in 2014 from an estate in Kendall that belonged to his foster grandmother on the north coast of NSW.

No one has been charged for his disappearance.