Hayden Neal Watts: Man goes unpunished in Warwick court after bizarre cop blunder

A Warwick man has walked free from court after claiming he was asked by police to repeat the same risky behaviour he had just been charged over. Read the full story here:

A man caught in the act of scaling one of Warwick’s best-known monuments “for a laugh” has walked away from court without punishment after reports of a police blunder were aired to the courtroom.

Hayden Neal Watts was spotted via CCTV climbing the TJ Byrnes statue at the intersection of Palmerin and Grafton Sts just after midnight on May 12, drawing police to the scene.

Police prosecutor Andrew Grafton told Warwick Magistrates Court that the 22-year-old tried unsuccessfully to flee on foot, but was soon nabbed by officers.

“He was interviewed in relation to the matter and when asked why he’d climbed the structure, he said he thought it would be funny,” Sergeant Grafton said.

A self-represented Watts gave a similar explanation when he appeared in court, saying his mate had given him a cardboard cutout and he wanted to put it on top of the statue “for a laugh”.

The Warwick man raised eyebrows around the courtroom when he claimed police officers then asked him to retrieve the cardboard figure by climbing the monument in the same way they had initially charged him for.

Watts also said he was sober at the time and apologised for his actions, acknowledging he had been “pretty stupid”.

Magistrate Virginia Sturgess warned Watts his behaviour could have put his own or first responders’ lives at risk, but said his clean criminal history and the seemingly contradictory police orders he received on the night meant he would walk free from court with an absolute discharge.

“It doesn’t appear to be the crime of the century though, Mr Watts, particularly if (police) got you to climb up there anyway,” she said.

“That’s a little bit inconsistent to me.”

Watts pleaded guilty to one count of unregulated high-risk activities.

No conviction was recorded.