A man who admitted to kidnapping and murdering a three-year-old girl in 1970 during his teenage years has been publicly identified in the NSW Upper House.

Jeremy Buckingham, a Legalise Cannabis MP, used his parliamentary privilege to reveal the man’s name, who had previously evaded trial for the murder of Cheryl Grimmer in Wollongong.

Buckingham acted in accordance with the desires of Cheryl’s family, who imposed a deadline for the suspect to voluntarily come forward and clarify his confession, threatening to disclose his identity in parliament if he failed to do so.

Despite the parliamentary disclosure, the Daily Mail remains unable to publish the identity of the 71-year-old man because he was charged with Cheryl’s murder as a juvenile.

The suspect was just 15 when Cheryl vanished from Fairy Meadow beach on January 12, 1970. He confessed to the crime two years later, at 17, although Cheryl’s remains have never been discovered.

Authorities attempted to verify the authenticity of his confession but ultimately concluded there was insufficient evidence to proceed with charges.

Known during legal proceedings only as ‘Mercury’, the man was charged with murder in 2017 after his unverified 1971 confession resurfaced.

Mercury’s 2019 trial collapsed when a judge ruled the confession he gave as a teenager could not be used as evidence and he now denies any involvement in Cheryl’s disappearance.

A man who confessed to abducting and killing a three-year-old girl when he was a teenager in 1970 has been named in the NSW Upper House. The man, who the Daily Mail still cannot identify, is pictured with detectives Damian Loone (left) and Frank Sanvitale in March 2017 

Buckingham offered to reveal Mercury’s name under parliamentary privilege after Cheryl’s family asked authorities for a fresh probe into her disappearance.

Last Friday, Cheryl’s brother Ricki Nash told journalists: ‘[Mercury] has got until Wednesday night.’

Buckingham named Mercury in NSW parliament on Thursday.  

Mr Nash wants Mercury to explain how he knew about key details in his alleged confession and to confirm whether what he said in 1971 was true or not.

The little girl had been spending the day at the beach with her family, who had migrated from Bristol to Australia under the Ten Pound Poms scheme.

As the family was preparing to leave the beach, Cheryl ran laughing into the women’s changing rooms and would not come out.

Too shy to enter to retrieve her, her older brother Ricki went to call their mother to help get Cheryl out of the block.

When he returned with his mother just 90 seconds later, Cheryl was nowhere to be found.

Cheryl Grimmer (above) disappeared from Fairy Meadow beach on January 12, 1970. A boy who had been 15 when Cheryl was last seen confessed to her murder in April 1971

Days after Cheryl vanished, a ransom note addressed to her father Vince and police was sent to Bulli police station, near where Cheryl was last sighted.

At the time, investigators appealed for anyone who recognised the handwriting in the note to come forward. 

The letter promised to return Cheryl in exchange for $10,000 at the local library the following Saturday.

Police swiftly went to the media with the ransom note – a move Cheryl’s surviving siblings now claim ‘completely ruined’ any hopes of finding her alive.

Fifteen months later, Mercury allegedly told police he had abducted Cheryl, who he had planned to sexually assault. He said he panicked when she would not stop screaming and killed her.

‘I tied a handkerchief and a shoelace around her mouth to stop her screaming and with the other shoelace I tied up her hands,’ Mercury stated in an interview on April 29, 1971.

‘I was going to have sexual intercourse with her.

‘I put my hands around her throat and told her to shut up… I guess I must have strangled her. She stopped breathing and stopped crying and I thought she was dead, so I panicked and covered her up with bushes and run for it.’

Legalise Cannabis MP Jeremy Buckingham used parliamentary privilege to identify the man (above) as having been previously charged with the murder of Cheryl Grimmer in Wollongong

Mercury gave police a detailed description of where he left Cheryl’s body, what he did with the swimmers she was wearing and where he dumped her beach towel.

A coronial inquest held in 2011 found Cheryl had died but the cause and manner of her death remained undetermined. The coroner recommended police conduct further inquiries.

A re-investigation commenced in 2016 and Mercury’s typed and signed confession was located, while further evidence was obtained by Wollongong detectives Damian Loone and Frank Sanvitale.

Mercury was interviewed and would not repeat his 1971 confession. He was arrested in Victoria in March 2017, extradited to NSW and charged with murder.  

Mercury pleaded not guilty in September 2018, objecting to the admissibility of the 1971 interview, with the Crown accepting a trial could not proceed without it.

The murder charge was dropped in February 2019 following a judge’s ruling that Mercury’s original police interview could not be used in a trial.

Justice Robert Allan Hulme’s decision was based on the fact there was no record of a parent, other guardian or legal practitioner present at any stage of the interview.

At the time there was no mandatory requirement, legislative or otherwise, instructing police on how to proceed with interviewing minors.

The man gave a detailed description of where he left Cheryl’s body, what he did with the swimmers and where he dumped her beach towel. Cheryl is pictured with brother Ricki

Justice Hulme referred to evidence of records and reports on the teenager from 1970-71 about his interaction with the juvenile justice system.

‘I hasten to add that any criminal behaviour was of a relative minor kind (e.g. petty theft) and that what seemed to be more concerning was the accused’s frequent absconding from homes and from detention facilities.’

The judge also heard evidence from two psychiatrists, who agreed the teenager had a very disturbed mental state at the time and was acting out in various ways.

Following a major crime review in 2019, the case was moved to the Homicide Squad’s Unsolved Homicide Unit.

In January 2020, on the 50th anniversary of Cheryl’s disappearance, the NSW Government increased the reward for information which led to the arrest and conviction of those responsible to $1million. 

Then Homicide Squad commander, Detective Superintendent Danny Doherty, said police would welcome any information that might help provide answers to Cheryl’s family.

‘By offering the highest value NSW Government reward five decades after Cheryl disappeared, we are appealing to those people who know something but have not previously been inclined to assist police,’ Detective Superintendent Doherty said.

‘Witnesses at the time reported seeing an unknown male carrying Cheryl towards the car park 50-years ago today but there has been no trace of her ever since.

Cheryl was snatched outside this shower block at Fairy Meadow Beach in January 1970. She was left alone for less than two minutes 

‘We welcome any information that may assist the investigation. There are now a million reasons to come forward.’

Last Friday, Cheryl’s family issued a lengthy statement that detailed what they believe were failings and delays by the authorities.

The family’s statement read: ‘We’ve made various requests to NSW authorities for a fresh prosecution or a fresh inquest but to no avail.”

‘We feel that we have been fobbed off numerous times by the police, saying that they’re conducting reviews of the case or exploring leads that make no sense to us.

‘The incompetence and negligence in the NSW police investigation of this case over much of the past 55 years is unfathomable.’

However, police have rejected the criticisms and say they are still chasing every possible lead.

They also said that the $1million reward was still available for anyone who provided information that would help them crack the case.

Cheryl’s family have accused police of several failings and delays. They believe investigators going public with a ransom note demanding $10,000 for her release (above) was a mistake 

‘Police continue to examine every line of inquiry and search for answers into Cheryl’s death,’ they said in a statement.

Earlier this month, Cheryl’s family joined volunteers and cadaver dogs to search an area they believed could hold fresh clues about her disappearance.

But after police subsequently scoured the area, they told the family that only animal bones had been found.

Cheryl’s relatives have said they do not agree with police and volunteers were working to collect soil samples that would be sent to the UK and US for tests.

The campaign to find out what happened to Cheryl has led the NSW parliament to announce an inquiry into long-term missing persons cases.

The probe will look into how cases were handled and determine what could be learned from any failings.