Footy star Sandon Smith learns his fate after being hit with serious charge over incident that saw man have his toes amputated

Sydney Roosters playmaker Sandon Smith has avoided a conviction after his negligent driving led to him leaving a pedestrian with serious injuries that saw two of his toes amputated.

Smith, 22, was given a two-year conditional release order on Friday after pleading guilty to careless driving causing serious bodily harm.

The NRL player was remorseful and had apologized several times in the nine months since the March 13 incident, his lawyer David Newham said.

“This was a terrible… freak accident that Mr Smith feels terrible about,” Mr Newham said outside Sydney’s Downing Center Local Court.

‘There was no recklessness whatsoever and he has apologized profusely to the gentleman who was seriously injured.’

Smith was on his way to football training at Allianz Stadium in Sydney’s east as he pulled an Audi A5 into the driveway at the Vaucluse house he was renting to a friend.

The Sydney Roosters star (pictured playing last season) crashed his car into another vehicle, sending a man’s foot to the ground

His view was obstructed by a tinted black Range Rover, a Pantech truck and a tree.

A Toyota Kluger traveling along Old South Head Road struck his Audi and sent him flying into another car, trapping a man’s foot as he got his son out of the trunk.

Mr Newham told the court that Smith had technically failed to fulfill his responsibilities as a careful driver.

“In the real world, of course … he did what most people would do under the circumstances,” he said.

“He didn’t shoot like a bat out of hell, for example,” Newham told the court.

Smith was gathering his thoughts after the crash when he heard the man screaming and went to help free him, Mr Newham told the court.

Police prosecutor Adrian Walsh said it was admitted the incident was ‘a series of most unfortunate events’.

“However, these events will now have a long-lasting and significant negative impact on the victim’s life,” Sergeant Walsh told the court.

“He spent eight weeks in hospital with many broken and broken bones,” he said.

He lost two toes and most of the feeling in his right foot, Sergeant Walsh added, providing the court with a gruesome photo of the man’s injuries, showing the bones from an open wound from heel to toe are.

Smith (pictured after a match against Canberra) rushed to the man’s aid when he heard his screams after the crash on March 13 this year

The court also received character references from Roosters chairman Nick Politis and head coach Trent Robinson.

Magistrate Scott Nash placed Smith on a two-year conditional release order with no conviction recorded.

Smith was charged in September, days after the Roosters’ qualifying final loss to Penrith.

But the NRL’s integrity unit was not made aware of the incident until the eve of Smith’s court hearing.

Smith is shaping up to be a crucial part of the Roosters’ 2025 squad, taking charge of the team’s attack following the departure of veteran playmaker Luke Keary and a long-term injury to regular halfback Sam Walker.

He was already behind the start in the half following Keary’s decision to retire from the NRL, but his value rose when Walker tore his cruciate ligament in August.

Smith was the first player from the club’s Central Coast Pathways program to play an NRL match for the Roosters when he made his debut in June 2023, playing 15 games that year and appearing in 14 more during the 2024 campaign.