Nicole Williams suffered trauma from machete attack before murder

The woman behind the attempted burglary that led to the shooting of an innocent man had been suffering from the trauma of being attacked with a machete at around the same time, a court has heard.

Nicole Williams, 40, has again tried and failed to be released on bail ahead of her sentencing for the part she played in the murder of 48-year-old Glenn Walewicz three years ago.

During her bail application in the ACT Supreme Court on Friday (9 August), clinical psychologist Tabitha Frew said Williams experienced a significant trauma event in the month before the murder, which meant she was in “an altered state of consciousness when she committed the offence”.

This traumatic event was that a man had attacked her with a machete.

“It does appear that my client has suffered as a result of being assaulted,” Williams’ lawyer, Darryl Perkins, said.

“It was a violent assault. [The attacker] received a jail sentence as a result.”

Ms Frew said Williams did not have much of a criminal history before the murder and thought she would struggle to access appropriate treatment for her post-traumatic stress disorder if she remained at the Alexander Maconochie Centre.

“This treatment is going to be very important on release,” Ms Frew said.

Williams had to prove special or exceptional circumstances existed that favoured the granting of bail in order for her bail application to be successful.

She argued she wanted to seek residential rehabilitation and was suffering from the effects of being in jail.

Prosecutor Christina Muthurajah, opposing her release, said when it came to rehabilitation, the court had only heard “vague information about a bed and a waitlist”.

Also, when it came to the impacts of being in custody, she said “there’s been no real evidence that her health care is inadequate”.

Justice Chrissa Loukas-Karlsson pointed out that Williams, who has been in custody since her arrest in June 2022, was due to face her sentencing hearing on 10 September.

She ultimately thought neither her desire to rehabilitate nor her situation in custody were special or exceptional and refused to grant bail.

The judge also said the matters said to make prison more deleterious for her were being treated and managed in custody.

Williams previously pleaded guilty to charges of accessory to murder and being knowingly concerned in an attempt to commit an aggravated burglary. Court documents later shed light on the role she played in the tragedy.

In early June 2021, she asked then-23-year-old Gary Taylor to liaise with her son, Jayden Douglas Williams, and a 17-year-old boy about conducting a home invasion for her.

On the evening of 10 June, the 17-year-old, a 12-year-old boy, Taylor and getaway driver Reatile Ncube met up at Williams’ home, where she told them to do a “run through” of two people’s home because they owed her money.

Williams also gave the .22 pump-action rifle to the 17-year-old and told both him and Taylor that she thought that one of the intended targets had a gun and might shoot at them.

Around 11:30 pm that evening, Ncube waited in the car while Taylor and the two teenagers walked up Mansfield Place in Phillip to carry out the home invasion, but the trio went to the wrong home and ended up knocking on the door of Mr Walewicz.

He called, “Who is it?” from inside his home before one of the intruders said, “Open up”. The 17-year-old fired a gun when he opened the door, hitting him in the neck.

He died shortly afterwards.

The next day, Williams messaged Jayden, making comments like, “He shot him in face son scary”.

Six people were arrested over Mr Walewicz’s death.

Taylor was handed over 10 years in jail while the then-17-year-old shooter, who cannot be named due to his age, was sentenced to 13 years imprisonment.

Jayden was sentenced to two years in jail over his role, and Ncube was also sentenced to two years. The charge against the 12-year-old boy was dropped.