Doomsday prepper Dean Anthony Edwards sentenced for shed full of homemade bombs at Direk home

Armed robber, sex offender … doomsday prepper? This reformed criminal has told a court he filled his shed with bombs fearing Australia would be invaded.

A reformed sex offender and thrice-convicted armed robber turned doomsdayprepper has been spared a jail cell over a homemade arsenal built in the paranoid belief Australia would be invaded.

On Wednesday, the District Court suspended Dean Anthony Edwards’ two-year, five-month sentence, saying time in prison would only worsen his paranoid beliefs and anti-social personality.

Judge Jane Schammer said she accepted Edwards’ motivations for building three improvised explosive devices in his shed were defensive, not offensive, and spurred by the media he consumed.

Dean Anthony Edwards, right, outside the District Court after receiving a suspended sentence for explosives offending. Picture: Sean Fewster

“You said you were arming yourself so as to protect yourself and your family against a future invasion,” she said.

“You had developed a number of doomsday beliefs, absorbed from a number of alternative media sources, and were quite convinced the country would be invaded in the foreseeable future.

“You now understand it’s your responsibility to critically evaluate the media you consume and make more informed decisions based on credible and reliable information.”

Edwards, 61, of Direk in the northern suburbs, pleaded guilty to multiple charges of possessing and manufacturing explosives.

Edwards’ home in Direk, where he had homemade bombs. Picture Dean Martin

He also admitted possessing bombmaking instructions and prescribed equipment necessary for the manufacture of explosive devices.

Edwards was arrested in August 2022 by police who were tracking a shipment of illicit equipment, believing it would lead them to a drug lab.

Instead, they found Edwards – a self-described “experimental chemist” with a string of past convictions for explosives, who insisted he was making an “incendiary device” for camping.

In sentencing on Wednesday, Judge Schammer said Edwards’ long offending history included a 1980 conviction for unlawful sexual intercourse.

Dean Anthony Edwards, right, outside the District Court after receiving a suspended sentence for explosives offending. Picture: Sean Fewster

She said he had been convicted of three armed robberies – one in 1980 and two in 1997 – as well as explosives offending in Queensland in 2009.

However, she said that offending was “dated” and that Edwards had made clear efforts since to turn his life around – then placed it “all at risk” by building bombs.

“I accept that you do not hold extremist views and pose no significant risk of turning into a domestic terrorist,” she said.

“While you may not have been intending to use the IEDs, accidents happen – and there is the possibility of them falling into the wrong hands and being used with tragic consequences.”

Judge Schammer suspended Edwards’ sentence on condition of a three-year, $500 good behaviour bond.