The coronial inquest into William Tyrrell's disappearance has heard evidence made by a witness about person of interest Bill Spedding's van and whether or not it was seen coming out of the bush near Bonny Hills.
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It prompted the legal representation for Mr Spedding to question whether the investigation into the disappearance of the child from his foster grandmother's home at Benaroon Drive, Kendall on September 12, 2014 has been effective.
On Friday, August 23 counsel assisting the coroner Gerard Craddock questioned witness Dean Pollard over a statement he made to police in January 2015.
In the statement, Mr Pollard told police he was 100 per cent certain he saw Bill Spedding's van coming out of bushland near Houston Mitchell Drive at Bonny Hills on September 13, 2014.
However at the inquest today (August 23), Mr Pollard told Mr Craddock that he said in that statement he was not 100 per cent sure it was Mr Spedding's van.
Mr Pollard told Mr Craddock he saw a white van coming out of the bushland track.
Mr Pollard was shown an image of the van owned by Mr Spedding in 2014. The van had writing on the front of it.
"You said the van you saw coming out of the bush, that you thought was Bill Spedding's van, didn't have writing on the front," Mr Craddock said to Mr Pollard.
"Correct," Mr Pollard said.
"Then it couldn't have been Bill Spedding's van coming out of the bush," Mr Craddock said.
What we really need to get to the bottom of is whether the investigation has been effective.
- Peter O'Brien, legal representative for Bill Spedding
Outside the court Mr Spedding's lawyer, Peter O'Brien, told the media the sad feature of the investigation were the massive amounts of police resources that have been expended.
"This inquiry is very, very important," Mr O'Brien said.
"What we really need to get to the bottom of is whether the investigation has been effective."
The inquest will return to Sydney next week. Witnesses Bill and Margaret Spedding are expected to be called on Monday, August 26.
The inquest will then return to the Taree Courthouse in November for another sitting.
Deputy State Coroner Harriet Grahame said it was "just scratching the surface" and there was much more to be done before a finding on the suspected death of William Tyrrell can be handed down.
