A man may have been trying to dismantle his son's homemade bomb when it exploded in his face, killing him, a court has heard.
Noted animal research scientist Lionel Barry Lowe, known as Barry, suffered fatal injuries in the explosion, which occurred after he went out to mow his lawn at his property at Dural, in Sydney's north-west, on May 19 last year.
Police initially thought the 67-year-old's ride-on mower had blown up but later said a homemade bomb found in a skip on the property was the source of the blast.
His son Jonathan Burton Lowe, 24, who lived on the property, and Jonathan's friend Ashley Glenn Wright have been charged with manslaughter after admitting to constructing the improvised explosive device.
As the Crown began its case against them at their NSW District Court trial in Sydney today, the jury was told about the moments before the fatal explosion.
"At about 20 past four, (Barry Lowe) went out to mow the grass in a particular area behind the house," Crown prosecutor Craig Everson said.
"A few minutes later (his wife Diana Lowe) heard an explosion.
"Barry Lowe was severely injured as a result of that explosion - his thumb and the top of his finger were blown off, shrapnel entered his head, chest and liver.
"He staggered back to the house covered in blood ... but died some hours later."
Jonathan Lowe was charged over his father's death the following day after police found the remnants of an explosive device in a skip on the property.
They allege it had contained "half a sandwich bag" full of TATP - or acetone peroxide.
After admitting to constructing the device, Mr Lowe told police his father had discovered the bomb days earlier and had said he would "take care of it".
"He found it like a couple of days beforehand and told me to dismantle it," he said.
"I got a big lecture, we had a big fight.
"He told me, 'Don't worry about it, it's being taken care of'."
Mr Lowe's barrister Gabriel Wendler said the explosion was therefore the fault of the father who had taken possession of the bomb - "an act of carelessness ... or gross negligence".
But Mr Everson said the young men were responsible for Mr Lowe's death.
"In this case the Crown sets out to prove that the accused did an unlawful act, carrying with it an appreciable risk of serious injury which substantially contributed to the death of Barry Lowe, even though the immediate cause of death might have been the deceased's own actions in handling, or even trying to dismantle the device," he said.
"The Crown doesn't have to prove the act was done with any intention of injury."
The trial, before Judge Helen Murrell, is expected to hear from up to 44 witnesses and last up to three weeks.
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