Tyla Alain Khelloul faces Gympie court for armed robbery while in company

A one-time casino worker and his female lover took part in premeditated plan to rob and threaten an unsuspecting Tinder date. Here’s how the crime went down.

A young couple lured a man into an armed robbery through a Tinder date, which ultimately cost him his car, phone and peace of mind.

Tyla Alain Khelloul, 23, pleaded guilty on Monday, January 30 in Gympie District Court to one count of armed robbery while in company.

His co-offender has not been caught.

The court heard Khelloul’s 18-year-old partner set up a date with the 21-year-old victim through Tinder on December 24, 2021.

She entered the victim’s car and Khelloul climbed into the back seat.

The woman claimed her car was stolen and told him to search for her vehicle, the court heard.

She then asked him to drop her off at her uncle’s house but led him to a deserted street.

The woman whipped out a box cutter and gave the victim two options: to let her take the wheel or she would “stab him in the f---ing throat,” Crown prosecutor Michael Andronicus said.

The woman took over the car as the victim moved to the front passenger seat before she took his phone and passed it to Khelloul in the back seat.

Tyla Alain Khelloul leaves the Gympie District Court on January 30, 2023.

“While holding the knife, she also demanded the complainant to hand her his smartwatch,” Mr Andronicus told the court.

The court heard she began driving “erratically,” swerving and hitting the brakes.

She gave bizarre comments like asking the victim if he thought what she was doing was “hot.”

The man was eventually kicked out of his own car on a dirt road, the court heard.

The victim asked Khelloul to hand back his phone but he refused, and the pair drove away.

The stolen car was recovered, unharmed but the victim said he felt scared driving down the streets in the same car.

He also had to replace his phone and smartwatch and has spent restless nights worried the pair would come to harm his family, Mr Andronicus said.

Defence Barrister Simone Bain said Khelloul was a father to a three-year-old daughter and previously worked in a factory as well as a casino.

Khelloul began using cannabis at 15 and then meth from 18, Ms Bain said.

Judge Glenn Cash said it was “clearly a premeditated plan to ultimately rob him.”

Khelloul was arrested on February 4, 2022 but his partner is yet to be apprehended, the court heard.

He was sentenced to 2.5 years in jail and will be released on parole on April 30, 2023 with 185 days in pre-sentence custody declared as time served.