Former William Tyrrell Detective Gary Jubelin Found Guilty Of Misconduct
The man who was once in charge of finding out what happened to missing toddler William Tyrrell has been found guilty of misconduct.
Former top homicide cop Gary Jubelin was convicted in a Sydney court on Monday of illegally recording conversations with the Tyrrell family's elderly neighbour Paul Savage, while he was a person of interest in the case.
The former detective chief inspector contested allegations he unlawfully recorded four conversations with Savage in 2017 and 2018.
However, Magistrate Ross Hudson rejected Jubelin’s defence that he recorded the conversations to protect his lawful interests.
He told the court Jubelin “made a decision Savage was his man and pursued him as a person of interest at all costs”.
“The court cannot accept that the recording of the conversations was reasonably necessary to protect his lawful rights," the court heard.
Jubelin has always denied any wrongdoing.
While Savage was the subject of surveillance warrants at the time, the devices used by Jubelin to record the conversations were not authorised.
The verdict came after a lengthy two-week trial in February, where the inner workings of the Tyrrell investigation were laid bare, along with the in-fighting within the police force.
Prosecutor Philip Hogan argued that a decision to acquit Jubelin would have rendered useless comprehensive frameworks around privacy and police surveillance.
He argued no police officer was above the law and his defence was baseless.
William Tyrrell vanished in September 2014 while playing at his foster grandmother's home in Kendall on the NSW mid-north coast.
No one has been charged over his disappearance and Savage denies any involvement.
Jubelin was removed from the Tyrrell case in January last year, before being charged by his colleagues.
He left force shortly after, ending his 34-year career under a cloud of suspicion.
The court is awaiting sentencing submission before handing down a penalty.