Warilla Gorilla Tyrone Roberts warned he ‘might go to jail’ by magistrate

A magistrate has aired his concerns about an Illawarra rugby league prospect “killing someone” after he was caught driving while disqualified three times in less than two months.

Tyrone Roberts plays for the Warilla-Lake South Gorillas in the Group 7 competition.

A young Dapto man on the books of the Wests Tigers has been granted bail after police caught him driving while disqualified three times in less than two months.

Tyrone Roberts, who played for the Group 7-winning Warilla Gorillas in 2022, appeared via video link in Wollongong Local Court on Monday where he pleaded guilty to three counts of driving while disqualified and two counts of failing to appear.

Roberts, 20, also pleaded guilty to affray dating back to December, 2022, and he was convicted and fined $400.

Documents tendered to the court stated the three driving matters occurred in November and December, last year.

Roberts was supported by friends and family in court on Monday when his lawyer Rosie Lambert submitted he was “on the brink of a professional career playing for the Tigers” and was also “working as a scaffolder”.

The court heard Roberts was due to be sentenced last week, however, he failed to turn up.

An arrest warrant was issued with police eventually arresting the footballer who spent the weekend in custody.

Illawarra rugby league player Tyrone Roberts is on the books of the Wests Tigers.

Magistrate Robert Walker said he was minded to finalise the matter by sentencing Roberts to an intensive corrections order, however, Ms Lambert asked for the matter to be adjourned for a sentencing assessment report.

The magistrate said Roberts was a “young Aboriginal boy on the cusp of an NRL career”, adding he could be facing the prospect of jail time.

“They’re playing a game here,” Mr Walker said.

“If they find someone who isn’t supportive of the Aboriginal community he might go to jail.

“If a white boy turned up he would be going to jail. But [Roberts] has done something with his life and that’s a credit to him.”

Mr Walker allowed the matter to go over to a later date and though he granted bail, he made a headline gesture with his hand going from right to left: “Magistrate grants bail to three time disqualified driver, he gets into a car and kills someone”.

“I can see that happening,” he said.

Ms Lambert submitted his family and club had a “willingness” to offer a bail surety, but Mr Walker instead ordered Roberts to reside at an address in Dapto, report to Lake Illawarra Command three times a week and to not get behind the wheel of a motor vehicle.

Roberts will be sentenced in May.