Bill Spedding, a one-time person-of-interest in the disappearance of William Tyrrell, says his life and business have been "shattered" by the highly-publicised ordeal while his lawyer says police have questions to answer over the investigation.
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The whitegoods repairman, who is suing NSW Police, opened up on ABC's Four Corners on Monday night about the investigation and its impact on his life and business.
"Well, it's all shattered. Basically, the business no longer exists," Mr Spedding said.
"Up until this point we've had no life at all, and we've basically got to restart over again, but the thing is that the publicity was worldwide. That is damage that can never be repaired".
William was three years old when he disappeared from his foster grandmother's home in Kendall, on NSW's mid-north coast, about 10.15am on September 12, 2014.
Mr Spedding, who visited the home three days earlier to fix a washing machine, has always vehemently denied any involvement.
His lawyer, Peter O'Brien, told Four Corners the way police investigated Mr Spedding was "fraught, and it was problematic".
"We need to know and the public is entitled to know and those who love William Tyrrell are entitled to know what went wrong with this investigation? Why haven't they found what happened to William Tyrrell?", he said.
An inquest this year heard that on the morning William went missing, Mr Spedding and his wife met for coffee about 9.30am in Laurieton, a 15-minute drive from Kendall.
They then attended a school assembly across the road to see a child in their care receive an award.
But detectives remained interested in his movements and in January 2015 they searched Mr Spedding's home and business.
"To publicly take him from the premises in a police car and conduct that search over that period of time had the obvious effect of notifying the public at large that this man was a suspect," Mr O'Brien told Four Corners.
No forensic evidence was found linking Mr Spedding to William's disappearance and Four Corners reported he was released without charge after a six-hour interrogation.
Mr Spedding said one detective told him: "We know you did it. We're going to get you. I'm going to come and arrest you".
It was months before police spoke to others at the school assembly Mr Spedding had told them he attended - and by that stage "people couldn't remember one assembly from another", Mr O'Brien told ABC.
Mr Spedding said then-homicide detective Gary Jubelin, who took over the investigation after almost five months, at one point told him "we're going to ruin you".
Mr Jubelin, who has since quit the force and is fighting allegations he illegally recorded phone conversations during the investigation, denied saying those words.
"That's the first time I've heard those claims. I don't recall the exact conversation," he told Four Corners.
The former detective said he didn't expect him to understand, "but the best thing I could do for Mr Spedding is to ensure that a thorough investigation was done".
A NSW Police spokeswoman said they weren't able to comment as the matter was subject to a coronial inquest and ongoing investigation.
Australian Associated Press
