'The accused is indigent': alleged Family Court bomber broke, judge says
A man accused of four murders in a series of bombings and shootings linked to a custody battle in the 1980s is destitute and without legal representation several months into his marathon trial, a NSW Supreme Court judge has found.
Speaking on an application to stay the high-profile proceedings against accused Family Court bomber Leonard John Warwick, Justice Peter Garling said continuing the case without the backing of defence lawyers could result in an unfair trial.
"I am satisfied ... the accused is indigent, he does not have legal representation for the defence of the trial, and that to proceed without legal representation would render the trial potentially unfair," Justice Garling said, adding Mr Warwick, 72, was not responsible for his predicament.
But the judge stopped short of halting or adjourning the trial, due to resume on March 11 and called for both parties to make submissions on Thursday afternoon.
His findings come after Mr Warwick's solicitor Alan Conolly previously told the court that his client had run out of money to fund his defence, and that defending the trial would be far too complex and resource-intensive for Mr Warwick to do alone.
Mr Conolly was representing Mr Warwick during the judge-alone trial, but has now stopped acting for him but for appearing pro bono in the application to have the trial stayed.
Mr Warwick, a former firefighter, has pleaded not guilty to 24 charges relating to seven incidents between 1980 and 1985.
Family Court judge David Opas, shot dead out the front of his Woollahra home on June 23, 1980, is alleged to be one of four murder victims of Mr Warwick over a five-year period.
Other events for which Mr Warwick has been charged include the shooting murder of his brother-in-law, Stephen Blanchard in February, 1980; the bombing of Justice Richard Gee’s Belrose home in March 1984; the bombing of the Family Court in Parramatta in April 1984; the bombing of the Greenwich home of Justice Ray Watson, in which his wife Pearl was killed, in July 1984; the attempted bombing of lawyer Gary Watts on February 10, 1985; and the bombing of the Casula Jehovah’s Witnesses hall, killing one congregation member and injuring 13 others on July 21, 1985.
Legal Aid previously granted Mr Warwick funding on the basis that his wife, whose name has been suppressed, provide her interest in the family’s Douglas Park property as security, which she has refused to do.
In a late January application to adjourn the trial, Justice Garling heard Mr Warwick's solicitors proposed to approach both the NSW and Commonwealth Attorneys' General after unsuccessful attempts to procure funding from elsewhere.
The court has previously also heard Mr Warwick had been unable "to secure the services of counsel or other solicitors".