Russell O’Callaghan, 29, was badly burnt when a blast tore a hole through the roof of a state housing unit in Perth. He has been in hospital since the incident on March 20 and is in a stable condition.
After the explosion, which also injured five others, he was charged with attempting to manufacture amphetamine.
His first court appearance was yesterday in Perth Magistrates Court but he was excused from attending after his lawyer Mark Andrews presented a medical certificate.
Mr Andrews told the court it was not known when Mr O’Callaghan would be discharged from hospital but on his release he would go to a drug rehabilitation facility. He said a preliminary report from the state government chemist had shown that the lab would have produced only 1.2g of amphetamine.
“I don’t think anyone is suggesting that this was a sophisticated, commercial operation,” he told magistrate Giuseppe Cicchini.
To avoid a conflict of interest, a lawyer from the Director of Public Prosecutions, instead of the police, appeared for the prosecution yesterday.
Another man charged over the incident, Jason Lee Marzoli, also appeared in court and was granted bail on strict conditions, including a 12-hour curfew.
He lived in the home where the explosion took place and as part of his bail conditions is not allowed to return to the property unless he has permission from the police.
Both Mr O’Callaghan and Mr Marzoli are due back in court later this month.
Commissioner O’Callaghan has said he was shocked to see the extent of his son’s burns and he had come “within a hair’s breadth of losing his life”.
The incident led the commissioner to speak of the tension between trying to be a good dad and a good top cop.
“There’s always that conflict between being the Commissioner of Police and being the father,” an emotional Mr O’Callaghan said at the time.
