– With AAP.
1. NSW homicide detective once suggested William Tyrrell was killed in an accident.
NSW homicide detective Gary Jubelin suggested a retiree may have killed toddler William Tyrrell in an accident and used two unaccounted for hours to “get rid of the body”, a court has heard.
During a conversation allegedly illegally recorded, Jubelin put it to Paul Savage, 75, that he could have accidentally run over the little boy.
Jubelin, 57, has pleaded not guilty to illegally recording four conversations with Mr Savage years into the investigation of the three-year-old’s disappearance from a home in Kendall in September 2014.
Mr Savage lived across the street from William and was among hundreds of persons of interest.
One recording, in which Jubelin discusses the possibility William died in an accident, was played in Sydney’s Downing Centre Local Court on Wednesday.
Jubelin made the tape when he visited Mr Savage and his daughter at Kendall in May 2018.
After explaining that Mr Savage’s version of events “didn’t add up”, Jubelin said he had “concerns that you’ve lost touch with reality”.
“You’re twisting things,” Mr Savage said in the recording.
Jubelin replied: “I’m not twisting things. I’m trying to resolve it and find out what happened to William.”
Dismissing Mr Savage’s account that he’d gone looking for William and then had a cup of tea, Jubelin said the widower was the “one person” whose movements couldn’t be accounted for in the two hours after William disappeared.
“Your behaviour at the time is really, really concerning,” Jubelin said.
When Mr Savage asked what he could have done in the two-hour period, Jubelin said: “Get rid of the body.”
“Rubbish,” Mr Savage replied.
Jubelin later stated he thought Mr Savage or his wife Heather, who died in April 2015, could have accidentally run over the boy because William was known to go looking for his dad’s car.
“He’s all excited to see his dad, you’re moving your car and there was an accident, people understand it,” the then-detective inspector said.
Throughout the recording, Mr Savage denied any involvement in the disappearance of William or that he was mentally unwell.
The court on Wednesday was also shown footage from a police interview in which Jubelin accused Mr Savage of lying about when he found a piece of evidence planted by police.
A Spider-Man suit, similar to what William was wearing when he went missing, was placed in nearby bushland in July 2017.
Mr Savage was covertly recorded stopping near the location on consecutive days soon after. He reported the costume to police on the second day.
“You’re involved in what happened to William … and you didn’t know how to deal with it,” Jubelin said during an August 2017 police interview.
Mr Savage replied: “Rubbish.”
The only other person in the room during that police interview told Jubelin afterwards she didn’t think Mr Savage was responsible for William’s disappearance.
“Mr Jubelin didn’t agree with me,” Detective Sergeant Laura Beacroft told the court on Wednesday.
After accompanying the widower on a walk-through of the area in September 2017, the officer echoed her earlier position to Jubelin.
“I just didn’t think he was responsible,” she said.
The prosecutor alleges Jubelin, who was a detective chief inspector when he quit the force in 2019, made four recordings at times when Mr Savage was not subject to surveillance warrants.
No one has been charged over William’s disappearance.
The hearing continues.
2. A woman claims to have seen Prince Andrew with his underage accuser Virginia Roberts.
A woman has come forward claiming she saw the Duke of York dancing with his accuser Virginia Giuffre and remembered the encounter because she stepped on the royal’s foot.
Lawyer Lisa Bloom, who represents five women who say they were sexually assaulted by Jeffrey Epstein, revealed she has an unnamed sixth client who says she witnessed Prince Andrew with Giuffre in London’s Tramp nightclub in 2001.
Giuffre, previously known as Virginia Roberts, claims she was trafficked by convicted sex offender Epstein and alleges the Duke slept with her on three separate occasions, including when she was 17 – still a minor under US law.
Andrew, who strenuously denies the allegations, is facing calls to talk to the FBI and US prosecutors.
Bloom told a press conference in New York that the girl stepped on Andrew's foot by mistake while dancing next to him and a friend pointed out who he was.
She said: "She thought to herself 'oh my God, I'm in the presence of a royal'. It was a very big moment to her.
"She says that she gawked at him because he was a prince.
"After she was done staring at him for quite some time, she looked at who he was with and it was a very young girl about her age.
"And in the photographs that she has seen since, she identifies that young woman, or girl, as Virginia Roberts."
Bloom said the woman came forward because she was "incensed" that Andrew had denied meeting Giuffre in his BBC Newsnight interview.
"Because he is a very powerful person, she is in fear of the repercussions to her," Bloom said, adding she had contacted the FBI on her behalf.
In an interview with the BBC's Panorama programme, Giuffre told how she was left "horrified and ashamed" after an alleged sexual encounter with Andrew in London in 2001.
She claimed she danced with him in Tramp nightclub, adding he was "the most hideous dancer I've ever seen in my life" and "his sweat was... raining basically everywhere".
During his Newsnight interview, the duke said the alleged encounter in 2001 did not happen as he spent the day with his daughter, Princess Beatrice, taking her to Pizza Express restaurant for a party.
He also said he does not recall meeting Giuffre and had a medical condition at the time, after suffering an overdose of adrenaline in the Falklands War when he was shot at, that meant he did not sweat.
Andrew stepped down from royal public life in November after the fallout from his disastrous Newsnight appearance.
He was accused of showing a lack of empathy for Epstein's victims and of failing to show regret over his friendship with the disgraced US financier.
Ms Bloom said Andrew needs to "answer questions about Jeffrey Epstein and his own behaviour", adding: "In both countries everyone is equal in the eyes of the law."
3. Two Australians have contracted Coronavirus while travelling on a cruise ship.
Two Australians on a cruise ship off Japan have contracted coronavirus after being exposed to the deadly virus by a previous passenger.
The pair were among 10 people including three each from Japan and Hong Kong, one from the US and one Filipino crew member who tested positive for coronavirus aboard the Diamond Princess.
Japan has quarantined the vessel carrying 223 Australians among 2666 guests and 1045 crew at Yokohama, south of Tokyo.
Japanese Health Minister Katsunobu Kato told reporters specimens from more than 200 people have been collected.
"From around 7.30 am (0930 AEDT) Tuesday, we had (the 10 who tested positive) get off the vessel and with co-operation with the coastguard we are sending them to medical organisations," he said.
The group was taken ashore by the Japanese Coast Guard and on to local hospitals, while the remaining passengers and crew have been quarantined on the ship in Yokohama Harbour.
"They will be provided medical assistance and, I'm advised, will be given passage to an appropriate medical facility in Japan, and we thank the Japanese government for that," federal Health Minister Greg Hunt told parliament on Wednesday.
Diamond Princess was due to depart Yokohama on an eight-day round trip but the vessel will remain in quarantine for two weeks while Japanese authorities attempt to contain further spread of the virus.
The outbreak has been traced to an elderly man from Hong Kong.
The 80-year-old reportedly sailed on one segment of the cruise itinerary and disembarked on January 25.
He visited mainland China for a few hours on January 10, officials said in a statement.
Six days after leaving the ship he tested positive for coronavirus, on February 1.
The infected patient had not been to healthcare facilities or seafood markets, nor had he been exposed to wild animals during his incubation period - meaning he likely contracted the virus from another human.
Several cruise lines have announced measures aimed at stopping the spread of the virus.
Princess Cruises and Carnival Cruises have barred guests from ships if they have travelled from or through mainland China in the 14 days prior to the departure date of the cruise.
Foreign Minister Marise Payne said the government is inquiring into the health of other Australians on the ship.
There are 13 confirmed cases of coronavirus in Australia.
More than 20 countries have confirmed cases of the virus, which has killed nearly 500 people and infected more than 24,000 in mainland China.
The outbreak has prompted the World Health Organization to declare a global health emergency, several governments to institute travel restrictions and airlines to suspend flights to and from China.
4. An erratic driver has caused a lockdown in Melbourne.
A man arrested after driving erratically down Melbourne's busy Flinders Street caused a lockdown and revived horrific memories for the city.
The 26-year-old was arrested without incident and no one was hurt, in stark contrast to the 2017 Bourke St massacre and a similar vehicle attack later that year, also on Flinders St.
After stopping his car outside Flinders St train station at the intersection with Swanston St on Wednesday afternoon, the man climbed onto the roof of a silver sedan and yelled for police to get him.
He then returned to the car and did a doughnut, repeating the actions at the same intersection of James Gargasoulas who then mowed down and killed six pedestrians in his car in Bourke St three years ago.
"Dead set I thought he was going to do exactly the same as that guy at St Paul's Cathedral (Gargasoulas) who was doing doughnuts," witness Heba Teryaki said.
The driver almost ran over Ms Teryaki, who said she approached the vehicle with her scooter "to see if he was alright".
"I followed him to get his number plates and I couldn't catch up to him," she told reporters.
Police superintendent Dan Trimble also said he was "absolutely" concerned there would be a repeat of the Gargasoulas tragedy.
But Supt Trimble said authorities did not need to use all the extra security measures put in place since the Bourke St rampage and the man was arrested without resistance.
A new Victoria Police "hostile vehicle" policy gives them the green light to ram an offending vehicle, use roadblocks, box the vehicle in or shoot the offender as a last resort.
Footage shared on social media shows police pointing guns at the man as he kneels down to be handcuffed.
"He drove down to the intersection at Flinders and William streets where he stopped, put his hazard lights on and police intercepted him at that location," Supt Trimble told reporters at the scene.
A critical incident response team helped detain the man and the bomb squad was called in to examine a backpack found in the vehicle.
The area was locked down for more than an hour as police examined the backpack which was cleared and the car towed away at about 3.30pm.
The man had no weapons on him and no-one was injured.
Supt Trimble said there were no terror links.
Trams and trains were delayed because of the incident, which lasted five minutes until the man's arrest.
No charges had been laid by Wednesday evening.
Eleven months after the Garasoulas rampage in January 2017, Saeed Noori killed a grandfather and injured 15 others when he drove his mother's SUV into pedestrians outside Flinders St station.
Gargasoulas and Noori are serving life sentences for murder.
5. More leave for parents of stillborn babies.
Parents dealing with infant deaths, premature births and stillbirths will soon have access to 12 months of unpaid parental leave.
It's the same amount of unpaid leave parents of healthy babies are able to access, and the changes will be made through legislation flagged for later this year.
"The government understands how devastating losing a child can be and recognises that the current entitlement to just six weeks of guaranteed unpaid parental leave is insufficient for many parents who need more time before they return to work," Attorney-General Christian Porter said on Wednesday.
It will also be easier for parents of premature babies, or babies who need to be immediately hospitalised due to birth complications, to return to work and restart their leave when their child can go home.
"Parents have told us how frustrated they felt by having to use up large amounts of their leave while their little one was in hospital, instead of being able to put it on hold until they needed it," Mr Porter said.
"These changes will give parents that flexibility and ensure they will get to spend quality time at home with their child when they leave hospital."
The draft legislation will be released for consultation in coming weeks.
Federal Labor has welcomed the proposal and have urged the private sector to do the same.
"Stillbirth is the biggest cause of infant death in our country today and the rate of death from stillbirth is higher than the national road toll," Labor senator Kristina Keneally said.
"We must do everything to support families through the devastation of such heartbreak."
Labor also wants the government to provide bereavement payments to parents of stillborn babies.
Senator Keneally, whose daughter Caroline was stillborn 20 years ago, is a vocal advocate for families who have experienced stillbirth.