Court hears double stabbing details

Prosecutor David O’Doherty told the court two people were taken to The Alfred Hospital by air ambulance after Watts stabbed them on Yorkshire Crescent in Shepparton on December 12, 2020.

The court heard Watts and his co-offender had become involved in an argument — which escalated to a physical confrontation on the street — after a barbecue in the front yard of a Yorkshire Cres home.

Watts stabbed one of the men three times, leaving him with a 3cm stab wound tracking at least 5cm, a 6cm stab wound that was at least 5cm deep, and a 10cm stab wound.

The man also had subcutaneous emphysema — air trapped under his skin — a minimally displaced rib fracture, a spleen laceration and blood in his abdominal cavity.

He was monitored in the intensive care unit after needing surgery to repair his diaphragm injury.

The other man Watts stabbed had a wound that was 15cm deep, and abrasions to his chest and neck.

He was in hospital for four days after needing emergency exploratory surgery.

In a sentencing conversation with First Nations Elders in court, Watts said he couldn’t recall the incident because of his mental health, but acknowledged his offending was a mistake, and said he was “regretful”.

“What I did ... I hate it,” he said.

Watts said at the time of offending, he was in a “bad headspace”, and “in one of the worst holes of my life”, after his partner of more than 20 years had left him.

He also said he’d been diagnosed with “one of the worst types of ADHD” in someone his age, but was now on medication.

In his conversation with the Elders, Watts said he’d had “a bit of a hard life” growing up in Melbourne, and was addicted to heroin.

However, he said he’d been clean from heroin since 2015, and drug-free since 2020.

He said he “never really knew what (my family) meant to me until I was clean from drugs”.

Watts was being assessed for a community corrections order and will be sentenced later in May.