A man who died after being found unconscious in a backyard pool in Sydney's northern beaches overnight has been identified as former Family Court judge Richard Gee.
Justice Gee, whose house was firebombed in 1984 during a series of attacks on judges, their families and others linked to the Family Court of Australia, was unconscious when a family member discovered him in the pool of his house on Neridah Avenue in Belrose about 10pm on Monday.
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Justice Richard Gee died on Monday night after the 83-year-old was found unconscious in his backyard pool. Vision: Seven News
NSW Ambulance paramedics arrived a short time later but could not resuscitate the 83-year-old, who died at the scene.
A neighbour said she heard Justice Gee's daughter found him in the pool on Monday night.
![Justice Richard Gee, right, was the target of a bomb blast that flattened his home in March 1984. Miraculously, he and ...](/web/20170103163105im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/t/k/z/f/k/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gtkzel.png/1483428179677.jpg)
"There were three cop cars and two ambulances, you could tell something serious had happened," she said.
"They were here until really late."
The woman said Justice Gee's wife had passed away a few years ago and a carer was sometimes seen at the home.
"He was a nice guy, very quiet."
![Police were called to the Belrose house about 10pm on Monday.](/web/20170103163105im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/t/k/z/f/l/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gtkzel.png/1483428179677.jpg)
Diana Bryant, the Chief Justice of the Family Court of Australia, said Justice Gee would be remembered as a "wonderful individual and judge who provided inspirational service to the court and to the community". She said he worked predominantly at the court's Parramatta registry from 1980 to 1998.
"His exemplary dedication and commitment to the court was demonstrated by his brave decision to return to work following the horrific bombing of his family home in 1984 and to continue to serve the court and the community for another fourteen years until his retirement," Chief Justice Bryant said.
![Police examine the remains of Richard Gee's Belrose house in 1984 after it was bombed.](/web/20170103163105im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/t/k/z/l/n/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gtkzel.png/1483428179677.jpg)
"On behalf of all Family Court judges and staff, I express my condolences to his family at this time."
Justice Gee's death comes after 17 other people drowned in NSW since December 18, a toll Royal Life Saving NSW has described as "unprecedented". The death toll includes four toddlers who have drowned in backyard pools.
Justice Gee and his family had miraculously survived a bombing that flattened their Belrose house in 1984.
Justice Gee had taken over the court list of Family Court judge David Opas, who was shot at point-blank range when he answered the doorbell at his home in the Sydney suburb of Woollahra on June 23, 1980.
About 1.30am on March 6, 1984 a bomb, the equivalent of 50 sticks of gelignite, exploded on the front doorstep of Justice Gee's home in Belrose.
It levelled the house from the front to the back wall. Justice Gee's wife Helen was in hospital at the time with an infection but Justice Gee and his two children, Alison and Steven, were at home at the time. They escaped with only minor injuries, a fact the deeply religious Justice Gee described at the time as a "miracle".
Leonard John Warwick, 69, was arrested in July last year and has been charged with 32 offences - including four murders - relating to attacks on judges, their families, solicitors and others linked to the Family Court of Australia in Sydney in the early 1980s.
Police have alleged that Mr Warwick was motivated by a bitter custody dispute with his ex-wife Andrea, which was before the courts at the time.
NSW Police said officers from the Northern Beaches Local Area Command were investigating the circumstances surrounding the death, and were preparing a report for the Coroner.