A Dapto man who breached an ADVO before he crushed another man with his car will serve jail time. Photo: Zoe Cartwright.
A former RFS, SES and Coast Guard volunteer is in jail until at least 2029 after he crushed a man between the bullbar of his Toyota LandCruiser and another car.
Fifty-year-old Dapto man Gregory Ian Fretwell pleaded guilty to causing grievous bodily harm, failing to stop and assist after a vehicle impact causing grievous bodily harm, and of contravening an Apprehended Domestic Violence Order (ADVO).
The incident took place at a roundabout on the Princes Highway near Dapto in November 2024.
Sentencing Judge Andrew Haesler said that until his mid-40s, Fretwell was an upstanding citizen who was solidly employed, supported his family and contributed to the community as a volunteer.
In 2020, his long-term marriage came to an end, and he was involved in litigation regarding asbestos found in the house he owned.
In 2021, Fretwell was the victim of a serious and violent crime when a number of men armed with machetes invaded his home and stole his only valuable asset, an opal collection worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.
He was subsequently diagnosed with Complex Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
The court heard that Fretwell entered a new relationship after his divorce; however, in September 2024, the woman he was seeing obtained an apprehended domestic violence order.
He continued to bombard her with relentless text messages. One day, he sent more than 150 texts and 50 voice messages.
The court heard Fretwell was emotional, crying and yelling in many of the messages, and swung between telling the woman he loved her and accusing her of cheating.
That evening, the woman and her twin brother drove to a store in her Ford Territory.
They entered a roundabout as the offender in his white Toyota LandCruiser was coming in the opposite direction.
He used the roundabout to perform a U-turn so he was directly behind them.
The woman noticed the headlights of his vehicle and told her brother she believed it was Fretwell.
As the Toyota continued to follow them, her brother became angry and wanted her to stop the car.
He tried to dissuade Fretwell from following them by waving his arm out the window and throwing plastic bottles; however, Fretwell did not stop.
After 4 km, they came to a large two-lane roundabout on the Princes Highway at Brownsville.
When the woman stopped at the roundabout, her brother took off his seatbelt, pulled on the handbrake and got out of the car.
He took two or three steps toward the offender’s vehicle.
Fretwell saw him on the road. He accelerated, veering his vehicle to where his victim was standing.
The Toyota hit the victim near the passenger-side taillight, pinning him against the Ford.
Fretwell continued to drive, dragging his victim across the passenger’s side of the Ford before he came to rest in front of his sister’s vehicle.
She got out to find her mangled, groaning brother lying face down on the ground and bleeding profusely.
She called triple-0, and witnesses gave first aid to the victim until paramedics arrived.
He was flown to St George Hospital; the court heard he had suffered catastrophic injuries and was near death.
He underwent multiple operations, survived a cardiac arrest and spent five months in hospital.
He remains in a wheelchair, in constant pain. He may not be able to have children in future, and may be on antibiotics for life to manage systemic infections as a result of his treatment. He is likely to need further surgeries.
Blood, flesh and bone were found at the crash site, smeared on the passenger side of the woman’s car and on the ground.
Fretwell had continued to drive straight through the roundabout to Dapto Police Station, where he borrowed a phone from a passerby and called triple-0 to request an ambulance.
He gave them the location of the collision and told the operator it was an “absolute emergency”.
Police placed him under arrest. He has been in custody ever since.
The court heard Fretwell gave a false version of events to a witness, the triple-0 operator and police.
“The offender used his Toyota LandCruiser, in effect, as a weapon; and a Toyota LandCruiser with a bull bar is a formidable weapon,” Judge Haesler said in his sentencing.
“In a statement to his psychologist, the offender spoke of this being an ‘accident’. This was not an accident.
“He accelerated and drove towards the Ford Territory, knowing that his victim had just left that car and was on the roadway.
“The best that can be said for him … is that what he did was unplanned and utterly impulsive.
“He has accepted responsibility, but it is begrudging. I cannot find that he has any genuine remorse for the catastrophic harm that he caused.”
Judge Haesler said Fretwell’s clear disregard for the ADVO must also be considered as part of the sentence.
He said it undermined the authority of the courts to protect people and showed a lack of care for someone who had shown him support.
Fretwell was sentenced to seven years’ imprisonment, with a non-parole period of four years and six months. His license will be disqualified for 12 months after his release from prison.
The sentence was backdated to his arrest on 7 November 2024.
The total sentence will expire on 6 November 2031, and Fretwell will be eligible for parole from 6 May 2029.
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