Raymond Brydon: Shepparton drug user caught with weapons at train station

A man gathering an “arsenal” before joining the Marine Corp didn’t stop at just waving a gun in a Shepparton train station.

Brydon thought he was gathering arsenal to join the Marine Corps.

A man, who waved a gun around the waiting room of Shepparton train station claimed he was gathering arsenal to join the (US) Marine Corps.

Raymond Brydon, 34, was jailed for six months after pleading guilty to charges of unlawfully carrying a controlled weapon and carrying an imitation firearm while a prohibited person at Shepparton Magistrates’ Court.

On May 23, 2020, Brydon, who was wearing a camouflage vest, approached the ticket window where he produced a firearm and started waving it around, stating he was “gathering an arsenal in preparation to join his unit in the Marine Corps”.

Three days later, Brydon was arrested at Shepparton McDonald’s after a witness saw him place a tomahawk down his pants.

Police prosecutor Leading Senior Constable Carita Thompson told the court Brydon’s reason for having the weapon was “in case anybody tries to kill me” while he walked home.

Sen-Constable Thompson told the court after the train station incident a police search uncovered an imitation firearm in his vest and he was hallucinating at the time.

Brydon also pleaded guilty to trespass with intent to steal, three counts of theft, two counts of committing an indictable offence while on bail and contravening a bail condition.

On May 29 last year, Brydon stole a camouflage jacket from Trelly’s Tackle World, which was later found in a bush when he was arrested by police the same day.

Earlier this year on March 7, he stole an Apple iPad and Acer touchscreen computer from a premises he had accessed through an unlocked back door.

On March 23, Brydon attended Trelly’s Tackle World and tried to remove a Savage A22 Magnum Rifle from the shelf.

A staff member saw him on CCTV forcibly trying to remove the item before telling him to leave the store, which Brydon did.

Being in the store was a breach of his bail conditions.

When sentencing Brydon, Frances Medina said she took into account his drug use and its relationship with the offending.

Brydon had already served 22 days in custody before he was sentenced.

He will serve an 18-month community corrections order following his release.