The lengthy trial of a-now penniless man accused of a string of Sydney bombings and murders in the 1980s ought to be stopped or adjourned unless he is legally represented within a fortnight, a judge has concluded. Leonard John Warwick is destitute, with estimated legal costs of $4.5 million, and no longer legally represented through no fault of his own, Justice Peter Garling said on Thursday. "The administration of justice requires that this trial be completed, but I am firmly of the view that without legal representation the likelihood of a fair trial being achieved is very low." Former Family Court litigant, Warwick, 72, has pleaded not guilty in the NSW Supreme Court to four murders and 20 other offences relating to seven events which occurred between February 1980 and July 1985. Solicitor Alan Conolly, who had represented Warwick at the judge-alone trial, is no longer acting for him due to funding issues but did make an application on Warwick's behalf for a stay of the proceedings. "The trial has occupied 103 hearing days during which 70 witnesses have been called by the Crown," Justice Garling said. The Crown, which proposes to call a further 155 witnesses, accepted the case was large and complex, but submitted a fair trial would still be possible if Warwick was unrepresented. The judge found Warwick had used his own assets to pay out more than $900,000 for legal fees but was now "wholly without assets". The recent grant to him of legal aid had expired because a condition - apparently imposed on an erroneous basis - had not been met. Referring to the $4.5 million estimated legal costs and disbursements to date, the judge said it would be easy to react "to this extremely large sum for costs of a criminal proceeding" with "an expression of astonishment or even a much stronger epithet". But he acknowledged the court was hearing a stay application and was not engaged in assessing legal costs. Mr Conolly later said another legal aid application would be filed on Friday. The judge adjourned the case to March 6, directing that a Legal Aid NSW representative be sent his judgment and attend court on that date. "I conclude that it is appropriate, unless legal representation can be obtained, that the trial due to recommenced on 11 March 2019 ought be adjourned or stayed." Warwick is charged with the 1980 shooting murders of his brother-in-law Stephen Blanchard and Justice David Opas; the bombing of Justice Richard Gee's home and of the Family Court building in Parramatta in 1984; and, in the same year, the bombing of the home of Justice Ray Watson in which his wife Pearl was killed. In 1985, he allegedly set off a bomb that ripped apart a Jehovah's Witnesses hall, killing Graham Wyke and injuring 13 people, part of the congregation offering support to his ex-wife Andrea Blanchard. Australian Associated Press
Leonard John Warwick doesn't have any money and is without legal representation, a judge says.
The lengthy trial of a-now penniless man accused of a string of Sydney bombings and murders in the 1980s ought to be stopped or adjourned unless he is legally represented within a fortnight, a judge has concluded.
Leonard John Warwick is destitute, with estimated legal costs of $4.5 million, and no longer legally represented through no fault of his own, Justice Peter Garling said on Thursday.
"The administration of justice requires that this trial be completed, but I am firmly of the view that without legal representation the likelihood of a fair trial being achieved is very low."
Former Family Court litigant, Warwick, 72, has pleaded not guilty in the NSW Supreme Court to four murders and 20 other offences relating to seven events which occurred between February 1980 and July 1985.
Solicitor Alan Conolly, who had represented Warwick at the judge-alone trial, is no longer acting for him due to funding issues but did make an application on Warwick's behalf for a stay of the proceedings.
"The trial has occupied 103 hearing days during which 70 witnesses have been called by the Crown," Justice Garling said.
The Crown, which proposes to call a further 155 witnesses, accepted the case was large and complex, but submitted a fair trial would still be possible if Warwick was unrepresented.
The judge found Warwick had used his own assets to pay out more than $900,000 for legal fees but was now "wholly without assets".
The recent grant to him of legal aid had expired because a condition - apparently imposed on an erroneous basis - had not been met.
Referring to the $4.5 million estimated legal costs and disbursements to date, the judge said it would be easy to react "to this extremely large sum for costs of a criminal proceeding" with "an expression of astonishment or even a much stronger epithet".
But he acknowledged the court was hearing a stay application and was not engaged in assessing legal costs.
Mr Conolly later said another legal aid application would be filed on Friday.
The judge adjourned the case to March 6, directing that a Legal Aid NSW representative be sent his judgment and attend court on that date.
"I conclude that it is appropriate, unless legal representation can be obtained, that the trial due to recommenced on 11 March 2019 ought be adjourned or stayed."
Warwick is charged with the 1980 shooting murders of his brother-in-law Stephen Blanchard and Justice David Opas; the bombing of Justice Richard Gee's home and of the Family Court building in Parramatta in 1984; and, in the same year, the bombing of the home of Justice Ray Watson in which his wife Pearl was killed.
In 1985, he allegedly set off a bomb that ripped apart a Jehovah's Witnesses hall, killing Graham Wyke and injuring 13 people, part of the congregation offering support to his ex-wife Andrea Blanchard.
