William Tyrrell’s former foster parent has been accused of being a bad mother by another child, who a court heard the woman kicked and threatened to slap.
The 58-year-old woman appeared in Parramatta Local Court with her partner on allegations of assaulting and intimidating the child, who was in their care until being removed in November 2021.
In a clash covertly recorded by police in October that year, a loud bang could be heard followed by the youngster screaming in pain.
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“She kicked me,” the child was heard yelling.
“You’re a bad mother.”
The child later said they did not want to remain with the couple, leading to a rant from the mother about the youth having a “get-out-of-jail-free card”.
“You break our hearts, you lose the only parents you’ve ever known, the only parents who have fought tooth and nail for you,” the foster mother was heard saying.
In May, an argument was recorded in which the foster mother accused the child of throwing things around the home.
“If I see or hear you throw something around again that won’t be the only thing that gets thrown,” the woman said.
“You seem to only listen to me when I threaten to get violent with you.”
A July argument over packing the dishwasher resulted in the foster mother threatening to pack up the child’s things in a black plastic garbage bag.
“If I get that attitude … I’m going to slap you across the face,” the woman said.
“Do you want me to do that? Because you are pushing me big time.”
The 58-year-old woman pleaded guilty on Monday to assaulting the child on two occasions, in January and October 2021.
She is fighting two other charges of intimidating the victim in a series of incidents between January and August that same year.
Her partner, William’s former foster father, has pleaded not guilty to one count of assault and one count of intimidation over alleged conduct in November 2020 and October 2021.
Neither foster parent can be named for legal reasons.
The covert recordings were taken inside the foster parents’ house on Sydney’s north shore, their car and of their telephone conversations during a police investigation into William’s unsolved 2014 disappearance.
The hearing continues.
William was three years old when he vanished from a property belonging to his foster grandmother at Kendall, on the NSW mid-north coast.
Police have sought answers in the years since his disappearance, including conducting a thorough search of the Kendall property in December 2020.
Neither foster parent has been charged over his disappearance.