Richard Bozic
Richard Bozic (2012; 2013)
Radek Jonak
Episodes: 5560–5562; 5588; 5596; 5709
Children: Jett James
Occupation: Labourer
When Xavier got curious of a photo Jett was carrying around, of a man he believed to be his father, he ran a check on the police computer and learned the man was Richard Bozic, who had been arrested for drug possession in 1996. He gave the details to Gina who asked Natalie Davison to look into it. She discovered that Richard had apparently turned his life around since then, living up the coast and taking various labouring jobs.
Gina was still reluctant to bring Richard into Jett’s life and sabotaged Jett’s attempts to track him down, hiding the page with his details from a list of Bozics Jett was checking out. Gina eventually went to see Richard and told him about Jett and his mother Liz’s death. Richard didn’t know if Jett was his son or not but felt Jett was better off without him either way. When Jett heard, he went to Richard’s house and smashed up his garden. Richard followed him back to Summer Bay where Gina convinced him and Jett to talk. Although they got on, Richard was left uncomfortable when John gave him a speech about the responsibilities of fatherhood and ended up leaving town without seeing Jett again.
However, when John and Gina looked into fostering Jett, his social worker Molly Brenner spoke to Richard, who agreed to a DNA test. When it confirmed he was Jett’s father, Richard applied for custody. He returned to Summer Bay to collect him but Jett wanted to stay with John and Gina. Richard rejected Gina’s suggestion of getting to know Jett while he continued to live with the Palmers, since he was about to move to Western Australia for work. When John refused to let him take Jett, Richard summoned Constable Stevenson, and Jett agreed to go with him to prevent further trouble. Only two weeks later, however, Richard realised Jett had been happier with John and Gina and returned him to them.
The following year, Richard returned from Perth when John and Gina were looking to adopt Jett. Things were tense, since Richard was reluctant to give up on Jett completely even though they’d barely been in touch. They spoke alone where Jett told Richard the adoption was what he wanted: Richard would always be his father but John was his dad and Gina his mum. Richard agreed to sign the papers and he and Jett promised to stay in touch. John told Richard he’d always be welcome to visit but Richard felt it was best he stay away for a while.