Rodney William Forno and Ashleigh Jayde Gyorosi plead guilty to sex scheme robbery at North Ward Coles

A woman and her ‘pimp’ attacked a man in a Townsville shopping centre car park after he caught onto their sex ploy to rob him.

Rodney William Forno and Ashleigh Jayde Gyorosi plead guilty to sex scheme robbery at North Ward Coles Picture: Google Maps

A couple punched and stabbed a man who they had lured to a shopping centre after making a deal for sex in a wild daylight robbery.

Rodney William Forno, 44, and Ashleigh Jayde Gyorosi, 33, were arrested after the attack at a busy Coles North Ward car park on January 22 last year.

Prosecution officer Cassandra Nitz told the Townsville District Court the “plan was quite sinister” as the woman had posed under a fake name on a classified website, and made a deal with a 55-year-old man to provide sexual services in exchange for cash.

The deal was 30 minutes for $250.

“They met at a car park at the city’s Woolworths and she asked him to drive her to North Ward to buy alcohol,” Ms Nitz said.

Forno also went to the shopping centre and sat separately at a table watching the pair that Monday morning.

The court was told the victim drew money from an ATM and bought alcohol for Gyorosi but grew suspicious, so he apologised “for wasting her time” and left the shopping centre.

Forno approached the man and said he owed her money for her time and that he was “her pimp”.

Gyorosi slapped the victim’s mobile out of his hand before Forno started punching the man in the head and the woman pulled a knife out of her pocket and stabbed the victim’s finger, the court was told.

The victim offered money for the woman to return his phone as it had his licence and bank cards inside, while shoppers called emergency services.

Rodney William Forno and Ashleigh Jayde Gyorosi plead guilty to sex scheme robbery at North Ward Coles.

Ms Nitz said police who later arrested the duo found the bloodstained cash on them and that the victim suffered facial injuries and had to get stitches to his finger.

She told the court the pair were “no strangers” to court or jail as they had both been previously sentenced for prior violent offences.

Defence barrister Jessica Hine who represented Gyorosi said the woman had violence inflicted upon her throughout her life which led her to drug use and correlated with certain points in her criminal history.

“She was in the grips of a significant vortex of drug use when she entered in a short relationship with the co-accused of this matter,” Ms Hine said.

Judge Gregory Lynham acknowledged the jail sentence the woman had received and said “if that didn’t scare the bejesus out of her, nothing would”.

“Was there an intention to provide sexual services or was it all a plan to defraud (the victim) out of $250?” His Honour asked.

Ms Hine said there was “no intention” for the offence to escalate as it did.

“I might just leave it at that. It was not planned for it to evolve into what it did,” the lawyer said.

Defence barrister Kellie Mythen who represented Forno said he too grew up witness to violence and became addicted to drugs.

“He instructed that in 2003 he was involved in a car accident, his friend who was driving ultimately died as a result of injuries and (Forno) suffered injuries to his back and legs,” Ms Mythen said.

“He was treated with Morphine to manage the pain and it quickly unfolded into a dependency.”

His lawyer argued that despite throwing punches, Forno was not the initiator of the violence as it was Gyorosi who slapped the victim’s hand and knocked the phone out.

Judge Lynham acknowledged it but said the pair were being sentenced as equally responsible for the attack.

“The background to the offending is somewhat bizarre and unusual,” His Honour said.

“Your initial plan was simply to dupe (the victim) out of $250 and the arrange of the meeting was a ruse but when he became suspicious of the ruse it spiralled out of control.”

The pair pleaded guilty to armed robbery with violence while in company.

Forno was sentenced to four and a half years jail and given a parole eligibility date of May 22, as 324 days of pre-sentence custody was declared as time already served.

Gyorosi’s sentence was adjourned to April 28 to allow for her lawyer to submit further expert reports on the woman’s health.

Originally published as Rodney William Forno and Ashleigh Jayde Gyorosi plead guilty to sex scheme robbery at North Ward Coles