Family Court of Australia attacks
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The Family Court of Australia attacks were a series of shootings and bombings in
New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...
, Australia from 1980 to 1985. They were targeted at judges, and other people, associated with the Family Court of Australia. Two people were shot dead, two killed by bombs, a court building was damaged by a bomb, and another bomb was found attached to a motor vehicle. In July 2015, Leonard John Warwick was arrested and charged with multiple offences, including four counts of murder, one of attempted murder, and 13 counts of burning or maiming with an explosive substance. In July 2020, Warwick was found guilty of the majority of the offences he was charged with, including three of the murders. He was found not guilty of the murder of Stephen Blanchard, his
brother-in-law A sibling-in-law is the spouse of one's sibling, or the sibling of one's spouse, or the person who is married to the sibling of one's spouse.Cambridge Dictionaries Online.Family: non-blood relations. More commonly, a sibling-in-law is referre ...
.


Attacks

The attacks are considered to have begun on 22 February 1980, when Stephen Blanchard was shot dead in his home. His body was found six days later on the opposite side of Sydney in
Cowan Creek Cowan Creek is located in New South Wales, Australia. It is a tidal subcatchment of the Hawkesbury River. Almost all of the catchment lies within Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park is a national park on the north ...
on the
Hawkesbury River The Hawkesbury River, or Hawkesbury-Nepean River, is a river located northwest of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The Hawkesbury River and its associated main tributary, the Nepean River, almost encircle the metropolitan region of Sydney. ...
. No one was found guilty of Blanchard's shooting, though convictions were made for the three subsequent related murders. On 23 June 1980, Family Court judge
David Opas David Louis Opas (30 June 1936 – 23 June 1980) was a judge of the Family Court of Australia. He was shot and killed during a period when a series of related gun and bomb attacks, killing three more people, were carried out against judges and o ...
was shot outside his home. He died later that night in hospital. On 6 March 1984, judge Richard Gee, who had taken on Opas' cases after his death, was injured by a bomb at his
Belrose Belrose is a suburb of Sydney in the state of New South Wales, Australia 19 kilometres north-east of the Sydney central business district in the local government area of Northern Beaches Council. Belrose is also considered to be part of th ...
home. On 14 April 1984, the
Family Court building The Philadelphia Family Court Building also known as Juvenile and Domestic Branches of the Municipal Court, is a historic building registered under National Park Service's, National Register of Historic Places. The building was constructed betwee ...
in Parramatta was bombed, without any injuries. On 4 July 1984, Pearl Watson, the wife of Family Court judge Ray Watson, became the first fatality of the bombing campaign when she opened the door of their unit in
Greenwich Greenwich ( , ,) is a town in south-east London, England, within the ceremonial county of Greater London. It is situated east-southeast of Charing Cross. Greenwich is notable for its maritime history and for giving its name to the Greenwich ...
, triggering an
improvised explosive device An improvised explosive device (IED) is a bomb constructed and deployed in ways other than in conventional military action. It may be constructed of conventional military explosives, such as an artillery shell, attached to a detonating mecha ...
on the doorstep. Judge Watson is believed to have been the target but was only injured. Like Richard Gee, Watson had taken on some Family Court cases from his predecessor after Gee had been injured in the March 1984 bombing. Then on 21 July 1985, Graham Wykes, a
Jehovah's Witness Jehovah's Witnesses is a millenarian restorationist Christian denomination with nontrinitarian beliefs distinct from mainstream Christianity. The group reports a worldwide membership of approximately 8.7 million adherents involved in ...
minister was killed, and another 13 people injured when their
Casula Casula is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is 34 kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Liverpool. Casula is the first suburb immediatel ...
Kingdom Hall A Kingdom Hall is a place of worship used by Jehovah's Witnesses. The term was first suggested in 1935 by Joseph Franklin Rutherford, then president of the Watch Tower Society, for a building in Hawaii. Rutherford's reasoning was that these bui ...
was bombed. Also in 1985, an unexploded bomb was found in Northmead under the bonnet of a car. The address was formerly that of a solicitor who acted for a woman in a Family Court case. His name was still listed at that address in the
phone book A telephone is a telecommunications device that permits two or more users to conduct a conversation when they are too far apart to be easily heard directly. A telephone converts sound, typically and most efficiently the human voice, into ele ...
. The attacks were once considered an unsolved mystery of Australian crime. In 1984, a reward was offered for information, but was never claimed.


Investigations

There were two coronial inquests into the attacks. The first was held in 1986 at Glebe Coroner's Court, investigating the death of Graham Wykes. The second was held in 1987 by Kevin Waller into the death of Pearl Watson. Waller recorded an open verdict, expressing frustration and disappointment that insufficient evidence had been found to charge the main suspect, who had been connected in some way to all of the victims. In 2012, the State Crime Command's homicide squad restarted an investigation into the crimes.


Trial and sentencing of Leonard Warwick

On 29 July 2015, 68-year-old Leonard John Warwick, the brother-in-law of the first victim, Stephen Blanchard, was arrested at
Campbelltown, New South Wales Campbelltown is a suburb located on the outskirts of the metropolitan area of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is located in Greater Western Sydney south-west of the Sydney central business district by road. Campbelltown is the adminis ...
. He was charged with 32 offences, including four counts of murder, one of attempted murder, and 13 counts of burning or maiming with an explosive substance. Warwick appeared in Campbelltown Local Court on 30 July 2015. The case was adjourned to 6 August at Central Local Court. At the August hearing he did not appear and did not apply for bail. Bail was formally refused and he was held until the next hearing in October. Warwick had been a " person of interest" in the original investigation. Warwick was remanded in custody until 10 February 2017. Warwick pleaded not guilty to all charges on 2 March 2017, and the judge, Justice Garling, set a trial date of February 2018. The trial commenced in May 2018, before Justice Garling without a jury. There were several delays and adjournments to proceedings, with Warwick having no money for legal representation in February 2019, and his legal aid representatives withdrawing from the case in June 2019 after Warwick claimed his public defender had "bullied" him. Warwick's 23-month trial was concluded on 6 April 2020, with the verdict pending. Justice Garling noted, "I can inform the parties that it will take a considerable period of time." On 23 July 2020, Warwick was found guilty of all offences for which he was charged, except for the shooting of his brother-in-law Stephen Blanchard. On 3 September 2020, Leonard Warwick was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. During sentencing proceedings, Supreme Court Justice Peter Garling said that Warwick's crimes "cannot be viewed as anything other than an attack on the very foundations of Australian democracy".


Media

The case was covered by ''
Casefile True Crime Podcast ''Casefile True Crime Podcast'', or simply ''Casefile'', is an Australian crime podcast that first aired in January 2016 and is hosted by an Australian man who remains anonymous. The podcast is released on a Sunday (EST) for three consecuti ...
'' on 2 April 2016.


References

{{Reflist


External links


The Family Court Murders
''Sunday Night'', Seven Network, 7 July 2013
Casefile True Crime Podcast - Case 13: The Family Court Murders
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