NSW:Waterlow's family 'have safety fears'

AAP General News (Australia)
04-13-2011
NSW:Waterlow's family 'have safety fears'

By Margaret Scheikowski

SYDNEY, April 13 AAP - Anthony Waterlow's relatives are very concerned about their
own safety despite his apology for killing his sister and father, a Sydney judge had been
told.

Crown prosecutor Mark Tedeschi, QC, said that despite the insight Waterlow had now
gained into his mental illness, this might be lost in future if he does not take his medication.

"His family are concerned for their own safety and nothing the offender said yesterday
has allayed those fears at all," he told the NSW Supreme Court on Wednesday.

Waterlow, 43, of Stanmore, has pleaded not guilty to the stabbing murders of his art
curator father, Nick Waterlow, 68, and his sister, Chloe Heuston, 36, at her Randwick
home in Sydney on November 9, 2009.

He also denied recklessly causing grievous bodily harm to a young girl, who cannot
be named for legal reasons.

The issue for Justice Peter Hidden, who is hearing the trial without a jury, is Waterlow's
mental state at the time.

Both Mr Tedeschi and defence barrister Peter Hamill, SC, submitted that the evidence
overwhelmingly supported a special verdict of not guilty on the grounds of mental illness.

On Tuesday, Waterlow told the court he was "totally shattered" by what he had done
and if he could give his life to bring them back, he would.

Since being treated with the right medication while in custody, symptoms of his schizophrenia
had slowly gone away, he said.

"I am so, so sorry and I will be for the rest of my life," he said.

Mr Tedeschi said the evidence showed that for many years Waterlow had no insight into
his condition, despite numerous people, including psychiatrists, telling him he was ill.

Because of his illness, he had no insight into it and did not take recommended medication.

"Out of that lack of insight came the terrible tragedies of these three offences," he said.

Mr Tedeschi said that if Waterlow were ever to be considered for release, the Mental
Health Review Tribunal should consider that if he were ever to go off his medication,
he would lose the insight that he had now.

He referred to the family's concerns about their safety and about the fact that in
Waterlow's court address he had not even mentioned the girl he injured.

Mr Hamill has asked the judge that if he finds Waterlow not guilty, he specify a forensic
hospital where he should be detained.

But Mr Tedeschi said this should be a matter for the Mental Health Review Tribunal,
which had the resources to fully consider the issue.

The judge will deliver his verdicts on Tuesday.

AAP mss/wjf/dep/de

KEYWORD: WATERLOW

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