Crash pilot grilled on cocaine use in TV star's trial
Sebastian Robinson was left a paraplegic after the February 2022 crash that killed Outback Wrangler co-star Chris "Willow" Wilson in Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory.
Mr Robinson is giving evidence in the Supreme Court in Darwin at the trial of Wright who has pleaded not guilty to three counts of attempting to pervert the course of justice.
Prosecutors allege the helicopter operator was worried crash investigators would discover flight-time meters were disconnected regularly to extend flying hours beyond official thresholds and paperwork was falsified.
Mr Wilson fell to the ground from a sling beneath the chopper while collecting crocodile eggs in remote swampland.
The aircraft then crashed, seriously injuring Mr Robinson who is giving evidence by video link from his wheelchair.
The 32-year-old has previously admitted to the court that he used cocaine about twice a year.
But senior defence counsel David Edwardson KC on Thursday read out text messages extracted from Mr Robinson's mobile phone by police, detailing regular exchanges with friends about the supply of cocaine.
Mr Edwardson has previously alleged in the lead-up to the crash Mr Robinson was a cocaine-using "party animal".
The text messages from November 2018 to August 2021 included lines from friends asking him if he was "getting more coke" or could he "get good stuff for Chrissy party" and did he have "some Charlie".
One message read "footie players in town and want bags", with Mr Edwardson asking Mr Robinson if that referred to Richmond and was he planning to supply them with cocaine.
Mr Robinson said he could not recall that message, declined to admit he was trafficking cocaine and said he had never flown helicopters while high.
In response to Mr Edwardson's line of questioning Mr Robinson said: "Are you implying that I'm a drug dealer? No".
In another message exchange Mr Robinson texted he was "crook as a dog", with a friend texting back, "snorting too much coke out of Matty's arse", in an apparent reference to Wright, the reality TV star.
Wright chuckled to himself in the dock when he heard that text message.
The jury has heard that 10 days after the crash Wright visited Mr Robinson while he was heavily sedated in hospital and asked him to manipulate flying hour records.
Mr Robinson said he declined to do so.
The charges against Wright do not relate to the cause of the accident and the prosecution does not allege he is responsible for either the crash, Mr Wilson's death or Mr Robinson's injuries.
The trial continues.
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7NEWS
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Reality TV star Matt Wright told an associate to collect the phone of a severely injured pilot following a fatal helicopter crash, a jury has heard. The Outback Wrangler star has pleaded not guilty to three counts of attempting to pervert the course of justice in the Supreme Court in Darwin. The charges follow a helicopter crash in February 2022 that killed Wright's friend and co-star Chris 'Willow' Wilson on a crocodile-egg collecting mission in the Northern Territory's Arnhem Land. Pilot Sebastian Robinson, now 32, was left a paraplegic after the crash. On Monday, his partner Rhanii Lee told the court by video link she visited a heavily sedated Robinson in a Brisbane hospital in the days after the crash. Lee told the court she met the pilot's colleague, Tim Johnson, at the hospital and he had cried after seeing Robinson in the ICU. 'He was just saying that he couldn't believe this had happened, how heartbreaking it was to see Sebastian.' Lee said Johnson had asked for a maintenance form for the crashed aircraft or a logbook and it was handed to him by a family member. 'He said Matt also mentioned to grab Sebby's phone and we thought 'no', so we didn't hand him the phone.' Lee said Johnson left the hospital with the document, but Robinson's mother or aunt rang him and asked him to return it, which he did. Prosecutors allege Wright was worried after the crash that investigators would learn his choppers' meters were regularly disconnected to extend flying hours beyond official thresholds and that paperwork was falsified. One of the charges against Wright is that he tried to get Robinson to transfer flying hours from the crashed machine to his own chopper when he visited him in hospital 11 days after the accident. The charges do not relate to the cause of the accident and the prosecution does not allege Wright is responsible for the crash, Wilson's death or Robinson's injuries. Under cross-examination from senior defence counsel David Edwardson KC, Lee said she and Robinson had gone to a party two days before the crash and that she had not seen him snort lines of cocaine there. The defence has painted Robinson as a cocaine-using 'party animal', but when giving evidence last week he denied ever flying helicopters while high. Lee agreed that email exchanges between her and Robinson when he was in hospital showed that family members had smuggled in beer for him. Edwardson has previously told the jury there were serious questions of credibility surrounding testimony from Robinson's family. Acting Justice Allan Blow adjourned proceedings until 10am on Tuesday for legal argument and sent the jury home.
