- Arrest warrant for missing boy William Tyrrell’s biological father has been issued
- Brendan William Collins was found by police ‘unsteady on his feet’ late last year
- He failed to appear in a Sydney court on Tuesday leading to issuing of a warrant
- William went missing from his grandmother’s house in north of NSW in late-2014
- Despite one of Australia’s biggest manhunts and $1M reward he remains missing
A warrant has been issued for the arrest of William Tyrrell’s biological father after he failed to show in court for carrying around stolen credit cards.
Police found Brendan William Collins ‘unsteady on his feet’ – walking side to side down a footpath and kicking a wall for no apparent reason – on a street in Sydney’s west about 5.30pm on November 17 last year.
Officers asked Collins why he was carrying a clear plastic bag containing two $100 notes and three $50 notes, a police statement of facts said. He claimed he had just withdrawn the money from an ATM.
William’s disappearance from his grandmother’s home in Kendall in the state’s north on September 12, 2014, sparked one of the biggest manhunts in Australian history.
An arrest warrant has been issued for the biological father of William Tyrrell (pictured) who did not appear in court on Tuesday. William went missing in 2014 sparking an enormous manhunt
Collins (pictured) failed to show in court on Tuesday on charges of carrying stolen credit cards. At the time of his arrest in November last year he was unsteady on his feet’, walking side to side down a footpath and kicking a wall for no apparent reason, a police statement of facts said
The police then searched him and found he was carrying two cards in his wallet that belonged to men named ‘Steve’ and ‘Ejub’.
He also had a NSW police force civilian warrant card with another man’s photo on it, the court facts said.
Collins – who is the half-brother of Five Seconds of Summer rocker Michael Clifford – claimed he found the cards on a road in Westmead but couldn’t say exactly where.
He claimed he had been planning to hand the cards in to police. He also claimed he had a receipt for the money but never produced it for police.
Police later contacted the men who owned the cards and charged Collins for having unlawfully obtained goods in his personal custody.
Collins was meant to appear in front of Magistrate Jennifer Giles on Tuesday.
But he failed to turn up to Parramatta Local Court and was convicted of the crime.
Collins (pictured) had only recently been released from jail on drugs charges last year when he was revealed to be the missing toddler’s biological father. William’s biological mother Karlie (left and right) was also named for the first time last year as the toddler’s parents
A landmark court ruling last year allowed the fact William (pictured) was a foster child to be published
Magistrate Giles issued a bench warrant to have Collins ‘forcibly brought before the court for sentence’ and ordered the stolen property be returned to its owners.
Collins had only recently been released from jail on drugs charges last year when he was revealed to be the missing toddler’s biological father.
His former partner, Karlie Tyrrell, is the boy’s biological mother. William has not been seen since.
A landmark court ruling last year allowed the fact William was a foster child to be published.
Both William’s biological parents and foster parents have been ruled out as suspects in the investigation into his disappearance.
There is a $1 million reward for information leading to his discovery.
Despite one of Australia’s biggest ever manhunts (pictured) William has never been found and a $1 million reward for information leading to his discovery remains in place