A magistrate has dismissed a slew of domestic violence allegations facing William Tyrell's former foster parents, while upholding counts of intimidation against each in relation to a different child.
Arguments over household chores, including cleaning a bedroom and stacking the dishwasher, formed part of the prosecution's case against the pair.
The former foster mother was cleared of five counts of intimidation, while the foster father had one count of assaulting the child dismissed, in a hearing at Sydney's Downing Centre on Friday.
None of the allegations relate to their treatment of William.
Prosecutors relied on more than 1000 hours of covert recordings made in the couple's home and vehicles over a period of 14 months in 2020 and 2021 by detectives investigating William's disappearance.
The three-year-old went missing while playing at his foster grandmother's home in Kendall on the NSW mid-north coast on September 12, 2014.
Threats to slap a different foster child made by the foster mother on two occasions were upheld by Magistrate Susan McIntyre as threats of intimidation.
The woman said to the child on one of the occasions, "I shouldn't have to get to the point where I threaten to hurt you because it's a massive problem".
The former foster father was found guilty of intimidation on one occasion while driving the child to school, during which the child was heard "crying and sobbing", the court was told.
Following an argument, the foster father yelled at the child to, "move, f***ing move" while waiting for them to get in the car.
Ms McIntyre told the court, "this was shouted so loudly and at such a high pitch that it caused the audio recording to distort".
He also said to the child, "I'm sick of your s***. You talk to us so bloody rudely".
The foster father's barrister, Phillip English argued at an earlier hearing the words and actions were that of a "frustrated parent".
The former foster mother earlier pleaded guilty to assaulting the child on two occasions in January and October 2021, striking her with a wooden spoon and kicking her on the thigh.
Lawyers for the woman argued she is "distraught and remorseful" and that her actions did not constitute a pattern of violence, which the magistrate accepted.
The former foster father was cleared of assaulting the child while implementing a "time out", which involved him placing his hands on the child's shoulder and applying pressure in order to place them back into a seated position on the floor.
Ms McIntyre disagreed with transcripts made by police of the incident, saying what was asserted to be the child saying "ouch" was more likely them saying "else", in the context of stating, "I am going somewhere else".
Interviews with the child in which they said they had never been hurt by the foster father helped establish his innocence, Ms McIntyre said.
The child was removed from their class at school by homicide detectives and interviewed in relation to the accusations against their foster mother.
When asked if they like their foster mother they replied, "Yeah we go on walks together. She's nice and easy to talk to."
Police also asked if there was anything the child didn't like about their foster mother.
"She's very bossy. Always telling me what to do," the child replied.
The court heard over the course of interviewing the child police asked them more than 750 questions.
Prosecutors are yet to provide an update on the prospect of charges being laid over William Tyrrell's disappearance.
A sentence date for the pair, who cannot be legally identified, has been set for March 27.
- AAP
