Director of Public Prosecutions v Heycox

[2025] ACTSC 85

SUPREME COURT OF THE AUSTRALIAN CAPITAL TERRITORY

Case Title:

DPP v Heycox

Citation: 

[2025] ACTSC 85

Hearing Date: 

6 March 2025

Decision Date: 

14 March 2025

Before:

Burns AJ

Decision: 

(1)      Tyler Heycox is convicted of the charge (SCCAN2024/9) of aiding and abetting the commission of the offence of aggravated robbery and sentenced to 4 years 6 months imprisonment commencing 14 October 2023 and expiring on 13 April 2028.

(2)      I set a non-parole period of 2 years 3 months commencing 14 October 2023 and expiring 13 January 2026.

Catchwords: 

CRIMINAL LAW – JURISDICTION, PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE – Judgment and Punishment – Sentence – plea of guilty – aggravated robbery committed while in possession of an offensive weapon – weapon used was apparently potentially lethal – robbery committed at the victim's own home – offence subject to significant planning and premeditation – property stolen was of significant value – threat of violence used to commit the offence was of a high level – offence had a very considerable effect on the victim – offender’s prospects for rehabilitation poor – offender on conditional liberty at the time offence was committed – plea of guilty entered at a late stage

Parties: 

Director of Public Prosecutions ( Crown)

Tyler Heycox ( Offender)

Representation: 

Counsel

S McLaughlin ( Crown)

T Crispin ( Offender)

Solicitors

ACT Director of Public Prosecutions

In Private Law ( Offender)

File Number:

SCC 322 of 2023

BURNS AJ:

Introduction

1․Tyler Heycox, on 15 November 2024 you entered a plea of guilty to a single charge alleging that on 1 May 2023 you aided and abetted the commission of an offence by Tom Perry (a pseudonym), namely, aggravated robbery in circumstances where that offence was committed while in possession of an offensive weapon. The maximum penalty for this offence is 25 years' imprisonment, a fine of $400,000, or both.

2․At approximately 10:30pm on Sunday, 30 April 2023 Tom Perry attended the Accor apartments in Dickson and went to a room rented by another person. Present in the room at that time were that person and yourself. The other person was asked to leave the room so that you and Perry could speak in private. The two of you remained in the room for about 30 minutes before Perry left.

3․During that 30-minute period you and Perry discussed your plan for offending that the two of you were proposing to engage in the following day.

4․On the morning of Monday, 1 May 2023, you picked up Perry from a location in the ACT. At this time, you were driving a silver BMW motor vehicle. At about 8:30am that day you drove Perry to an address in Watson. At this time the victim was at her residence when she heard a knock at the front door. She asked who was at the front door, to which she heard Perry say, “it's [the co-offender gave a name that was not his]”. She unlocked her front door and partially opened it before she observed a long barrel firearm pointing at her. She described the firearm as brown in colour and the top part of the gun appeared black.

5․She observed that Perry was wearing all black clothing and a black face mask obscuring the lower part of his face, and was holding the firearm with two hands. Perry then forced open the front door of the residence, using the firearm, and demanded that she give him the keys to “the car”, gesturing towards a green Tesla which was parked in the driveway. She complied with that demand. Perry then pointed the gun towards the victim and told her to come outside and show him how to drive the car, to which the victim stated that she didn't know how to do that because it wasn't her vehicle.

6․Perry escorted the victim outside towards the Tesla at gunpoint and she saw him get into the driver's side of the car. She took that opportunity to run back inside the house and screamed for help from the other occupants of the house. Two males were both inside the house at the time and called 000 for assistance. The registered owner of the Tesla used his personal Tesla application on his smartphone to track the car, providing assistance to police on the whereabouts of the vehicle. He was able to apply a speed limit on the vehicle of 80 kilometres an hour.

7․Using information provided by the owner of the Tesla vehicle, police attended Gale Street in Watson where they located the Tesla stationary on the side of the road. Police observed Perry seated in the driver's seat of the Tesla. On the opposite side of the road police observed the BMW also stationary with the driver's door open. You were in the BMW at that time.

8․While you and Perry were on Gale Street prior to police arrival Perry provided you with the firearm which he had used in the aggravated robbery. When police arrived one or more of the police officers drew their issued firearms and aimed towards Perry. Police were dressed in full uniform and clearly announced themselves as police. Perry accelerated away from police. Police then engaged in a pursuit of the Tesla which was being driven by Perry. The movements of the Tesla continued to be monitored by the owner of the Tesla vehicle.

9․Shortly after 9am police located the Tesla in Ainslie. Perry was arrested by police. At that time Perry told police that he had given the firearm to the driver of the BMW, but refused to name that person. He said, however, that he had met that person in rehab.

10․At approximately 1:36pm police observed you walking towards the BMW. You were arrested and searched, at which time you were found to be in possession of the key to the BMW. You were cautioned and interviewed. During the interview you denied knowledge of the aggravated robbery. You admitted that you knew Perry from rehab, but asserted that you had not spoken to Perry for approximately two months. Police subsequently obtained cell charge records which showed a volume of calls and text messages between you and Perry on 30 April and 1 May 2023, including in the immediate time frame of the aggravated robbery.

11․Police also obtained a statement from another person in which he spoke of admissions that you made to him after the event, including that you had hidden the firearm and that you had known that you and Perry were going to get a car.

12․On 14 May 2024 Perry participated in a taped record of conversation with police in which he nominated you as the other person involved and said that he provided you with the firearm immediately after the aggravated robbery.

13․I have had the benefit of a victim impact statement dated 11 June 2024 which speaks of the impact that this offence of aggravated robbery has had on the victim. It was undoubtedly traumatising for the victim and affected her mental and physical health. She felt so unsafe that she felt that she had to leave the country and return to her birthplace of Malaysia. Even in that environment she continued to have haunting memories of this crime.

14․In assessing the objective seriousness of this offence, in addition to the pleaded circumstance of aggravation, I take into account that:

(a)The weapon used in the commission of the offence was apparently potentially lethal.

(b)The aggravated robbery was committed at the victim's own home.

(c)The offence was subject to significant planning and premeditation.

(d)The property stolen was of significant value.

(e)The threat of violence used to commit the offence was of a high level, and

(f)The offence had a very considerable effect on the victim.

15․While your level of involvement in the offence of aggravated robbery was not the same as that of Perry, you nevertheless played an integral part in the offending. You were part of the planning of the offence. You transported Perry to the scene of the offence for the purpose of committing the crime, knowing that Perry was in possession of a firearm for use in the offence, and you assisted Perry after the offence by meeting him, taking possession of the firearm, and hiding it.

16․I would assess the objective seriousness of the offence committed by you as in the mid-range of such offences.

17․You did not give evidence at your sentence hearing, but I was provided with some information about your background by your lawyer, and via a pre-sentence report. You are currently 40 years of age and one of four children to your parents' union. You described your upbringing as family oriented, and reported no negative events of significance during your childhood. I note, however, that you stated to the author of the pre-sentence report that your mother abused alcohol during your formative years, but you said that this did not negatively impact the household. Your lawyer informed me that you had witnessed one or more unsuccessful attempts by your mother at suicide, but no details have been provided to me about that matter.

18․Your parents reside in Braidwood in New South Wales (NSW) and you continue to have a positive relationship with them. You also described positive relationships with your three siblings. You, yourself, have two children aged nine and eight from your relationship with your former long-term partner. That relationship broke down approximately eight years ago. Your children live with their mother and contact with them has steadily decreased due to your offending behaviour, participation in drug use, and your estranged relationship with their mother.

19․You told the author of the pre-sentence report that you have been in a relationship for nine months. You described your partner as a positive influence, as she was a former drug user and allegedly understands the challenges of overcoming drug addiction. The author of the report noted that your partner is also known to ACT Corrective Services and is currently the subject of a supervised good behaviour order.

20․Prior to entering custody, you were residing between your parents' home in Braidwood and your partner's home in the ACT. You told the author of the report that you intended to resume residing with your partner upon release from custody. The report notes that your partner recently advised Corrective Services that she is being assessed for an intensive correction order in NSW and is seeking accommodation in that state.

21․You completed your education until the end of Year 10, and thereafter you held intermittent employment. You have mostly been in receipt of Centrelink income when in the community. You expressed a desire to find employment when released from prison. You stated that you were studying personal training on a part-time basis when last in the community and you want to continue your studies when released from prison.

22․You commenced using methamphetamine at approximately 28 years of age after you were introduced to the substance by a friend. Your use escalated over a 12-month period and quickly increased to daily use. You acknowledged that your methamphetamine use adversely affected your employment, finances, and relationships, and you admitted to selling drugs to support your habit.

23․You told the author of the report that you engaged in drug counselling at the Killard Centre during your recent period of parole in NSW, stating you had completed numerous sessions, however, Queanbeyan Community Corrections advised that you had failed to engage with drug counselling at the Killard Centre during that time.

24․You told the author of your report that you had only dropped Perry off at the house before the aggravated robbery took place and that you were unaware or unsure why you had been charged. This was clearly an attempt by you to minimise your responsibility for your involvement in the offence. The agreed statement of facts evidences a much more significant involvement on your part. It is unsurprising that the author of the report concluded that you have failed to acknowledge the seriousness of your offending behaviour and that you appear to minimise your involvement in the offence.

25․The author of the report noted that you have a longstanding criminal history, comprised mostly of drug and theft related offences. It was concerning to the author of the report that you had misrepresented your level of engagement with drug interventions when recently subject to parole in NSW. It is a positive circumstance that you have, or that you appear to have a supportive family unit, albeit that you have a strained relationship with your ex-partner.

26․The author of the report states that it is a matter of concern that you and your current partner both suffer from methamphetamine addiction and that you plan to reside together in the community. Doubts were expressed about your ability to comply with a community‑based order and your willingness to engage in relevant treatment. You have a lengthy criminal history which disentitles you to any reduction in sentencing for the present offence. I accept, as your counsel submitted, that you have no prior convictions for or relating to offences of violence. Your criminal history, nevertheless, speaks of the need to impose a sentence with a strong deterrent element.

27․I am satisfied that your prospects for rehabilitation are poor. When most recently on parole in NSW you did not commit to treatment as directed, instead returning to methamphetamine use and serious criminal offending. Your criminal history demonstrates that you are a confirmed criminal. Your compliance with community-based orders in the past has been poor. On balance, I do not accept that your applications for bail to this Court for the express purpose of attending residential rehabilitation while awaiting sentence on this charge demonstrates a real commitment to changing your life as opposed to simply being part of an attempt to be released from custody.

28․Your plea of guilty was entered at a late stage, the Friday before your trial was due to commence on the following Monday. Your plea, nevertheless, had utilitarian value and also demonstrated a degree of remorse. There is very little evidence of remorse, however, beyond your plea of guilty. I will allow a discount of 10 percent on the otherwise appropriate sentence because of your plea of guilty.

29․I understand that a warrant has been issued in NSW by the State Parole Authority to return you to custody in that state as a consequence of your parole order having been revoked on 28 June 2023. I am advised that you have a term of two years, three months, three weeks and three days remaining to be served because of the revocation of your parole order. I also understand that you will not commence serving the remainder of that sentence until such time as you are arrested on the warrant and returned to custody in NSW.

30․Your co-offender, Perry, was sentenced in this Court on 2 July 2024. With respect to the charge of aggravated robbery he was sentenced to imprisonment for three years and 11 months, reduced from six years and six months. The sentencing remarks of the sentencing judge have not been published so that the basis for the approximately 40 percent reduction in sentence on the charge of aggravated robbery is not clear, but it must reflect something more than an early plea of guilty.

31․In my opinion, the starting point adopted by the learned judge who sentenced your co‑offender was lenient. I will, nevertheless, accept that I should assess the starting point for your sentence by reference to the starting point adopted by the judge who sentenced your co-offender. There can be no doubt that your co-offender had a greater role in the commission of the aggravated robbery, and further, he had a lengthy history of criminal offending involving acts of violence.

32․You were, of course, on conditional liberty at the time you committed the present offence. It has long been recognised that the commission of further criminal offending while on parole is a significant aggravating circumstance which calls for greater punishment. On 3 August 2021 you were sentenced in the NSW District Court to an aggregate term of six years' imprisonment commencing on 22 October 2019 with a non-parole period of three years expiring on 21 October 2022. The present offence occurred less than seven months after you were released on parole.

33․I give little weight to the statement made by your counsel that you were traumatised by witnessing your mother's attempts at suicide as a child. As the prosecutor submitted, that submission provided inadequate detail and was not supported by any evidence. I was told that you have been prescribed antidepressants in custody, but I was provided with no further details.

34․On 7 December 2023 you were sentenced in the Magistrates Court to an aggregate term of imprisonment of six months and 16 days, commencing on 29 May 2023 and concluding on 14 December 2023. Those sentences were imposed for separate offending, but I will, nevertheless, make the sentence which I impose partially concurrent with those sentences.

35․My starting point for the present offence is five years' imprisonment. I will reduce this by 10 percent because of your plea of guilty.

Orders

36․For the above reasons, I make the following orders:

(1)Tyler Heycox is convicted of the charge (SCCAN2024/9) of aiding and abetting the commission of the offence of aggravated robbery and sentenced to 4 years 6 months imprisonment commencing 14 October 2023 and expiring on 13 April 2028.

(2)Ordinarily I would have set a non-parole period of approximately 65 per cent of the head sentence because of your criminal history and your poor prospects for rehabilitation; however, noting that when you are released from prison in this territory you will be immediately returned to NSW to serve the remainder of your sentence in that state, I will set a non-parole period of 2 years 3 months commencing 14 October 2023 and expiring 13 January 2026.

I certify that the preceding thirty-six [36] numbered paragraphs are a true copy of the Reasons for Sentence of his Honour Acting Justice Burns.

Associate:

Date: 14 July 2025