Bill Spedding's son defends father in Tyrrell case

The son of “person of interest” in the William Tyrell abduction case, Bill Spedding, believes his father had nothing to do with the toddler’s disappearance and that police have “lost focus” in their investigation.

Rodney Spedding told the Sydney Morning Herald that police investigating William’s disappearance had zeroed in on his father, who has since been charged with several historic child sex offences, while the real perpetrator remains at large.

"Police [have] lost focus and I believe we should actually be worried about trying to find out what happened to William Tyrrell and where he is if he is still alive and returning him to his parents," he told the newspaper.

“They are not going to find [anything] with Bill, but I believe the attention will far outweigh, this will undo everything to do with William Tyrrell while this plays out … in the media.”

Three-year-old William vanished from his grandmother’s yard in Kendall on the state’s mid north coast in September.

His disappearance sparked a massive air and land search for the toddler, and police later named Mr Spedding, 63, as a “person of interest” after it emerged the whitegoods repairman had visited the property prior to the disappearance.

Last month he was charged with five counts of having sexual intercourse with two girls, aged three and six, in the 1980s.

Detectives have repeatedly stated the charges are in no way connected to the William Tyrell case but have revealed Mr Spedding is one of many lines of inquiry they are pursuing as part of the investigation.

Mr Spedding was refused bail at Port Macquarie Court House last month and will re-appear in court on August 18. Magistrate Thomas Hodgson told the court the case was “reasonably strong”, with a “custodial sentence likely”.

Mr Spedding’s son, who is also a trained electrician, said he was convinced his father was innocent.

“I absolutely support him all the way through it,” he told the Sydney Morning Herald.