Man claims he joined in on robbery of Nick Kyrgios's Tesla 'out of fear'

An accomplice to the man who robbed Nick Kyrgios’ family home has claimed he was acting “out of fear”, a court has heard.

In May 2023, now-40-year-old Tyler Heycox dropped a man off at the Kyrgios family home.

When the man knocked on the door, Norlaila Kyrgios, tennis star Nick Kyrgios’s mother, answered and opened the door part of the way.

The man forced the door open, pointed a gun at Ms Kyrgios and demanded she give him the keys to her son’s Tesla.

He drove off in it and led police on a chase across Canberra. During the chase, Heycox met up with the man and took the gun from him.

After the robbery, Mr Kyrgios called 000 and used his Tesla app to track the car’s movements, giving information to ACT Policing about the vehicle’s location. The offender was arrested in Ainslie.

Region is unable to name the man involved because he was a juvenile when he killed university student Clea Kathleen Rose.

The then-14-year-old was driving a stolen car when he struck Ms Rose on Mort Street in Civic during a police chase.

He drove off, while the 21-year-old woman died from her injuries about 20 days later. The teenager was arrested and went on to serve time in prison over her death.

In July 2024, the ACT Supreme Court sentenced him to four-and-a-half years’ jail for his role in the Tesla robbery after he pleaded guilty to charges that included aggravated robbery.

During a hearing on Thursday (6 March), Heycox’s lawyer said much of his client’s criminal behaviour had been driven by his illicit drug use after he started using methamphetamine in his late 20s.

He told the court that while the two men had spoken the night before the robbery, to describe the conversation between the two men as planning was “a generous term”.

He said Heycox’s role was of a “significantly lesser nature” than that of the other man and that he was driven by a “fear of the co-offender”.

Heycox was not present for the robbery, which he called a “very bizarre incident”. But his lawyer acknowledged he would have had “some general idea” of what would happen.

“There’s no rational thinking that can be behind a plan to abscond with a vehicle that is infamous for its tracking devices and is an unusual vehicle,” he said.

However, Acting Justice John Burns said he couldn’t accept that submission.

“In the absence of evidence, I do not accept the proposition that there was no rational reason for this offence to have been committed,” he said.

Heycox’s lawyer said his client had a “positive and pro-social relationship” with his parents and planned to become a personal trainer upon release from custody.

Prosecutor Sam McLaughlin said the robbery involved the offenders taking the victim by “complete surprise”.

He said their offence was “pre-meditated with a degree of planning the night before” with Heycox involved in planning and carrying out the robbery.

Mr McLaughlin said Heycox had shown “limited, if any remorse” for his actions.

Heycox will be sentenced on 14 March.