We didn’t have to lose Will
THE biological grandmother of missing toddler William Tyrrell has hit out at the social workers who took him away from his parents as a baby and placed him in foster care.
Heartbroken Natalie Collins, 57, yesterday revealed her son Brendan Collins’ criminal past, drinking problems and rows with William’s mother Karlie Tyrrell. However, she said their behaviour was not enough to put the little boy who was “adored” by his family into care. It can now be revealed that William, who went missing in September 2014 while playing in the garden of his foster grandmother’s home at Kendall, on the NSW midnorth coast, was in care. The revelation follows a Supreme Court ruling last week.
“That little boy was my life, we all adored him, he was a beautiful innocent little boy,” Ms Collins said.
“There were rows between my son and (William’s) mother, drinking problems, but not enough for (Family and Community Services) to take William away from them.”
Ms Collins said her son had been released from jail in March while William’s mother no longer spoke to her.
“It’s ripped our family apart, we’ll never be the same now William has gone,’’ she said. “I think about him every day."