Warrant issued for Jack Watts’ arrest after court failed to find him

The arrest warrant for former AFL star and No.1 draft pick Jack Watts has been withdrawn after it was issued by a South Australian court that struggled to find him and issue a summons for him to appear.

The 30-year-old – whose full name is Jackson Redvers Watts – had his case listed in the Adelaide Magistrates Court on Monday morning after he was charged with failing to stop and give particulars to persons at a crash scene, failing to report the crash to police and driving without due care.

The former Port Adelaide and Melbourne player was allegedly driving a Toyota Kluger along Coral Sea Road in Fulham when he crashed into a parked Mazda sedan at about 2pm on September 20 last year and failed to stop.

His immediate retirement from the AFL was announced on September 24 – just four days after the alleged incident.

Mr Watts, who moved back to Melbourne after his retirement, did not appear in court, but the matter was called on by Magistrate Simon Smart.

The court was told the defendant’s summons had not been served because there were issues locating him.

Mr Smart said several attempts were made to track him down and believed he was living in Mentone in Victoria.

A warrant was issued for his arrest, allowing automatic police bail once he is located.

However, later in the day his lawyer Darren Russo recalled the matter after he discovered the case had been heard and requested the warrant be withdrawn.

He said he and Mr Watts had been in contact with the Henley Beach police station in the past but had “never been served”.

“We’ve been waiting to be provided with the summons by Henley Beach (police) via email, and it hasn’t come through,” Mr Russo told the court.

“Today we came across by chance that it was on and there’s been all sorts of trouble as a result.”

Mr Russo said he expected his client to plead guilty to “some charges”.

The warrant being withdrawn was not opposed by the prosecution.

According to Port Adelaide Football Club, Mr Watts notified the club of his decision to retire the same week of the alleged incident.

“I have been thinking long and hard about my future for a while and contemplating retirement,” Watts said at the time.

“Since my injury, I feel my body has let me down and I have been struggling with the physical and mental requirements of getting back to the level of fitness that’s required at AFL level.

“Speaking with Ken (Hinkley) and Chris (Davies) and my manager in the last few weeks, it feels like the right decision for me to step away and look for new challenges in the next phase of my life.”

Mr Watts was drafted at pick 1 to the Melbourne Football Club in 2008 and debuted the following year.

He moved to play at Alberton Oval in the 2017 trade period and played 21 games for the Power before sustaining a serious leg injury, partially dislocating his right ankle and breaking his leg, in March 2019.

Across his 12-year career in the AFL, he played 174 games and kicked 161 goals.