Mount Franklin farmer Gavan Vendy faces Ballarat County Court for attempted robbery of Daylesford Bakers Delight

A central Victorian farmer held a knife against a Daylesford Bakers Delight worker and demanded she empty the store’s till.

Farmer Gavan David Vendy tried to rob a Baker’s Delight store in Daylesford. Picture: File

A central Victorian farmer held a knife to the ribs of a bakery employee, telling her the store’s money was “not worth” her getting hurt.

Mount Franklin man Gavan David Vendy, 51, pleaded guilty at Ballarat County Court on Thursday to an attempted armed robbery in Daylesford.

On May 11, 2023, Vendy waited for the Bakers Delight on Park Lane to be clear of customers when he held a knife towards a worker and told her to “get all the money out of the till now”.

He leant towards the victim and placed the tip of his knife against her “rib area”, repeating his demand, and then leapt over the counter and told her “it’s not worth it, getting hurt”.

Another staff member told Vendy they were unable to open the register, and Vendy ran away with her phone, which he threw on the ground as he fled.

Vendy faced Ballarat County Court on Thursday.

When police arrested Vendy in June, they found an air rifle at his home.

He told officers he had “no intention of hurting anyone”.

“Something just went haywire in my head and I thought I’d go and do that,” Vendy said.

The court heard Vendy had mental health and drug issues, as well as money problems that were exacerbated on the day of his offending by someone asking him to pay back part of a loan.

The attempted robbery was “relatively spontaneous”, the court was told, as he had visited Daylesford to go to the grocers.

Judge Trevor Wraight referred to Vendy as a “desperate drug user”, but said there were “so many people in his circumstance”.

Vendy will be assessed for a community correction order and be sentenced next week.