Aidan Vernon-Woods: man sentenced over Facebook marketplace attack in Marayong

A man, armed with a 30cm knife and pliers, threatened to pull out a man’s teeth after a deal made on Facebook Marketplace to buy a gold bracelet went sour.

A man has been sentenced after punching and threatening a man he met off Facebook marketplace with a knife and pair of pliers.

Aiden Vernon-Brown, 21, faced Penrith Local Court where he pleaded guilty to common assault and intimidation.

Agreed facts tendered to the court state after messaging on Facebook marketplace Vernon-Brown met the victim to purchase a gold bracelet on June 22 at Marayong train station.

About 9:30pm Vernon-Brown entered the victim’s car and sat in the passenger seat before asking to see the bracelet, which he was told was real gold.

The 21-year-old told the victim the bracelet was ‘beautiful’ and he planned to buy it before pulling out a 30cm knife from his jacket and demanding the victim unlock his phone.

The matter was dealt with at Penrith Local Court.

Vernon-Brown then threatened to stab the man and said ‘unlock your phone motherf***er’ before punching him in the head, court documents state.

The victim handed Vernon-Brown $650 cash only for him to then place the tip of the knife against the man’s neck, before pulling out a pair of metal pliers telling him “I am going to pull out your teeth and stab you”.

At this point the victim opened the car door and ran towards a nearby house screaming for help before vomiting in the street.

Following his arrest on June 25, Vernon-Woods told police he had a rightful claim to $700 because the man falsely advertised the chain as being real gold, and his reason for asking the victim to unlock his phone was for proof of a deal they made on Marketplace.

Magistrate Peter Miszalski described the offending as “revolting” and “like a movie” but took into account Vernon-Woods had since taken steps towards rehabilitation.

The court heard Vernon Woods was working two jobs including one cleaning AirBnB properties in Mosman, which he told the court was “a lovely place, compared to the west”.

The court also heard during his time in custody Vernon-Woods discovered he was the father of a four-year-old child, whom he wants to be a role model for.

Vernon-Woods was sentenced to a 12-monthcommunity corrections order.

Following the sentencing the Magistrate wished Vernon-Brown the best of luck but told him

“don’t come back here again”.