Family Court bomber Leonard Warwick expresses no remorse

The son of a woman killed by the Family Court bomber has told a harrowing story about how he was never able to see his mum’s body after the blast.

The son of one of Family Court bomber Leonard Warwick’s victims has told of his heart-wrenching grief at not being able to view his mother’s body because she had been blown to pieces.

The victim impact statement delivered by Steve McInnes, whose mother Pearl Watson was killed when a bomb ripped through her Sydney unit in 1984, was one of a number of harrowing submissions delivered to the Supreme Court on Thursday.

Warwick, 73, is awaiting sentence with the crown prosecution asking he be jailed for the rest of his life after he rejected his final opportunity to express remorse and apologise for his five-year reign of terror from 1980 to 1985.

Leonard Warwick when he was called to give evidence after Family Court judge David Opas was shot dead.

Warwick’s solicitor Ian Benson told the court his client still considered himself completely innocent and he had been advised not to make any submissions during his sentence hearing.

Warwick was found guilty in July of three murders and a series of bombings that terrified Sydney and the legal community, with Justice Peter Garling to deliver his sentence on September 3.

He was found to have been motivated by a sense of bitterness and resentment after family court proceedings involving himself and his former wife Andrea Blanchard, who left him in 1979.

Andrea Blanchard during her ex husband’s trial.

All the incidents during his bloody spree were linked to his family court proceedings.

He was also found not guilty of shooting dead his brother-in-law Stephen Blanchard.

Ms Watson was killed as she opened the door of the Greenwich home she shared with her husband, Justice Ray Watson.

Pearl Watson (right), wife of Judge Ray Watson died from a bomb attached to her door.

Mr McInnes, Ms Watson’s youngest son, recalled rushing to Royal North Shore Hospital after being told his mother had died.

“I remember being in the emergency ward in a private section where Ray was, with my older brother Paul, wanting to see my mum one last time, wanting to say goodbye one last time,” Mr McInnes told the court through a stream of tears.

“And I couldn’t. They said I couldn’t see her. I couldn’t understand or accept that there wasn’t any part of her left for me to be able to do that. My mother’s body had been destroyed.”

Court Sketch of Leonard Warwick in court. Pic: Bernd Heinrich

Warwick was also found guilty of shooting dead Justice David Opas on his doorstep in 1980 and blowing up a Jehovah’s Witness hall at Casula in 1985, killing minister Graham Wykes.

Wykes’ widow Joy told of the moment she sat hand-in-hand with her husband before he was blown up.

“It was a cold July morning and we were seated in our Kingdom Hall holding hands,” Ms Wykes said.

“I wore gloves and had a rug over our knees. I do remember thinking ‘well Graham’s hands would be cold’ so I covered his hands with the rug.

“He would have known why I did this and he whispered to me ‘I love you’. At that moment the devastating explosion happened and they were the last words I heard from my husband.”

Warwick was also found guilty of shooting Justice David Opas, who had made adverse findings against him, on his doorstep in 1980.

The scene after the Family Court bombing in Parramatta in 1984. Pic: Steve Moorehouse

Justice Richard Gee took over the case and his home was bombed in 1984, a month before the Family Court building in Parramatta was also bombed.

Mr Opas’ widow Kristin told the court that she had been looking over her shoulder for 40 years and that her family had suffered emotional scars as a result.

Crown Prosecutor Ken McKay described Warwick’s crimes as heinous and asked Justice Garling to imprison him for the rest of his life.

“The level of culpability in the commission of the offences is so extreme that community interest in retribution, punishment, community protection and deterrence can only be met through the imposition of a life sentence,” Mr McKay said.