The police theory that William Tyrrell died in an accidental fall is to be investigated when an inquest into the toddler’s disappearance resumes in a Sydney court on Monday.

William went missing from his foster grandmother’s home in Kendall, on the NSW Mid North Coast, on September 12, 2014.

A long-running inquest before Deputy State Coroner Harriet Grahame is examining the disappearance and suspected death of the three-year-old.

After lengthy delays, the inquest returns to the NSW Coroner’s Court at Lidcombe for what will be the final block of hearings in November and December.

POLICE THEORY

The inquiry lasted 18 months before being adjourned in October 2020, with Ms Grahame’s findings due in June 2021.

Before her findings could be made public, police began investigating a theory that William had died in an accidental fall from a balcony and the boy’s adoptive mother had hidden his body.

William Tyrrell disappeared over a decade ago. Image: Provided

The foster mother – who cannot be named for legal reasons – has denied any wrongdoing or knowledge of how William disappeared.

No charges related to William’s disappearance were ever filed.

Last year, police handed an evidence brief to the Director of Public Prosecutions seeking advice on whether William’s adoptive mother could be charged with perverting the course of justice and interfering with a corpse.

In a letter previously sent to the court, Director of Public Prosecutions Sally Dowling SC said NSW Police had asked her office to “suspend” the request for advice pending the conclusion of inquest hearings.

The foster parents’ attorney Rylie Hahn previously said the foster mother “maintains that she had nothing to do with his disappearance … and is asking the police to continue to look for William and what happened to him.”

The house formerly owned by foster grandmother William Tyrrell. Image: NewsWire/Peter Lorimer

In November 2022, the foster mother appeared in the Downing Center Local Court in Sydney, where she was found not guilty of lying to the NSW Crime Commission.

The court heard that she was hauled before the secret murder commission and investigated into William’s disappearance.

The court heard that during the Crime Commission hearing, counsel for Sophie Callan presented the foster mother’s allegation that William died when he fell from the porch of his foster grandmother’s home.

The court heard the foster mother replied: “No, I would have found him.”

The foster mother also denied using the foster grandmother’s car to dispose of William’s body.

William’s adoptive father and mother. Image: NewsWire/Nikki Short

During the same local court hearing, Detective Sergeant Andrew Lonergan said he believed William was buried in an area on the corner of Batar Creek Rd and Cobb and Co Rd on the outskirts of Kendall.

Police, volunteers and detectives began a new dig for evidence in and around Kendall in late 2021.

The teams ran through the garden of his foster grandmother’s house and the nearby shrubbery.

Nothing found.