Gregory James Williams pleads guilty to Palmerston carpark attack

A 37-year-old Rapid Creek man has pleaded guilty to a terrifying carpark hit-and-run attack that left three women injured.

Gregory James Williams, 37, pleaded guilty in Darwin Supreme Court to his involvement in a brutal hit and run attack in Palmerston on January 6.

A Rapid Creek man who ran down his ex-partner in a Palmerston carpark, injuring her and two bystanders, has pleaded guilty to the January attack.

Gregory James Williams, 37, faced Darwin Supreme Court on Monday for the incident in which he targeted a 19-year-old mother whom he had dated for three years.

The court heard the pair had split in December 2022, before Williams began following her around the Palmerston CBD in his ute on January 6, pestering her to get in the car.

At about 3pm that day the 19-year-old was with a 20-year-old friend at the Palmerston bus interchange.

Crown prosecutor Collette Dixon told the court Williams parked in a nearby carpark where he continued to watch the women from a distance and yelled at them with “vulgar, abusive language”.

The women asked a security guard to escort them to the Coles at Palmerston Shopping Centre but he would only go as far as the carpark’s pedestrian crossing, about 50 to 60m from where Williams was parked.

Gregory James Williams, 37, appeared in Darwin Local Court charged for his alleged involvement in a brutal hit and run attack in Palmerston on Friday, January 6.

As the pair began to cross Williams drove directly at them, overtaking another car on the way and reaching up to 54km/h.

“The defendant revved his engine loudly and began to accelerate heavily through the carpark,” Ms Dixon said.

The women noticed his approach at the last moment and dived out of the way, Williams’ hitting their legs and causing them to fall to the ground.

Williams’ car ran over a concrete traffic island and rammed into a parked car where a 25-year-old woman was sitting, spinning the hatchback 180 degrees and causing severe damage.

That woman ran out of the car, screaming at the 19 and 20-year-olds to get out of the way.

The 20-year-old started running back towards the bus interchange, while the 19-year-old remained on the ground clutching her injured ankle.

Williams performed a U-turn and drove at the 19-year-old again, who narrowly avoided being hit a second time by running through a fenced walkway.

Shortly after, Williams rang the Palmerston police station and identified himself.

“He claimed that his foot had slipped on the accelerator and he ‘just freaked out’,” Ms Dixon said.

The three victims suffered bruising and other soft-tissue injuries from the attack.

Williams pleaded guilty to two counts of intentionally causing serious harm, one count of reckless conduct causing serious harm, and damaging property.

The court heard Williams grew up in New South Wales, where he left school in Grade 7 and went on to become a boilermaker.

He will be sentenced at a later date.