Ex-cop and prominent crocodile farmer give evidence in TV star's trial
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West Australian
2 days ago
- West Australian
Major claims as Netflix's Outback Wrangler star Matt Wright goes on trial over deadly chopper crash
Major claims as Netflix's Outback Wrangler star Matt Wright goes on trial over deadly chopper crash
News.com.au
2 days ago
- News.com.au
Major claims as Netflix's Outback Wrangler star Matt Wright goes on trial over deadly chopper crash
A reality television star and pilot allegedly fudged helicopter flight logs before his mate died in a fatal crash and suggested 'torching' important documents in the aftermath. Those were just some of the explosive claims made in the Northern Territory Supreme Court during the first week of the trial against Outback Wrangler Matt Wright. Mr Wright, 45, is accused of engaging in a 'pattern' of failing to accurately record flight times in the Robinson-R-44 that crashed three years ago, killing his friend and co-star Chris 'Willow' Wilson. The 34-year-old father was dangling from a sling attached to the chopper during a dangerous crocodile egg collecting mission on February 28, 2022. The helicopter crashed into a paperbark swamp along the King River in Arnhem Land, killing Mr Wilson and critically injuring 28-year-old pilot Seb Robinson. Mr Robinson is now a paraplegic and in a wheelchair. Mr Wright has pleaded not guilty to three allegations of attempting to pervert the course of justice following the crash. In his opening address this week, prosecutor Jason Gullaci told the court the six-man operation was 'risky and dangerous work'. Wild Harvest NT owner Mick Burns — commonly known as the 'crocodile king' — had a permit for egg collection and subcontracted Mr Wright's company Helibook. Mr Gullaci alleged Mr Wright had a 'pattern' of manipulating flight records. He said the Netflix and Apple TV star would have known about the maintenance requirements, including a service every 50 to 100 hours of flight and a major overhaul at 2200 hours. He said these 'potential end of life' overhauls could cost up to $460,000. Mr Gullaci alleged that in a bugged conversation with his wife Kaia in September 2022, Mr Wright suggested he knew he had overflown the maintenance hours 'by a couple hundred (hours), maybe 10 per cent'. 'I will be guilty of not keeping my f****** paperwork up to speed,' Mr Wright allegedly said. Mr Wright allegedly repeatedly disconnected the chopper's Hobbs Meter, which Mr Gullaci compared to the odometer of a car. While it was not alleged Mr Wright was responsible for the deadly crash, Mr Gullaci said his fear that he would be blamed did motivate his actions. 'Mr Wright was concerned after the crash that this failure would be revealed,' Mr Gullaci said. 'And if it was uncovered that there had been systemic under-reporting of the recorded hours, that it could be used as a way to blame him for the accident.' Mr Burns testified the collectors, who dangled from helicopters, were paid $1000 per day and the pilots were paid by their respective companies. He told the jury he paid for their 'green' fuel as 'we thought it was safer as it allows the engine to run cooler'. The petrol and a refuelling stop at Mt Borradaile will be a source of contention throughout the trial. Mr Burns began to tear up as he recalled arriving at the horrific crash site. Off-duty police officer Neil Mellon was with Mr Burns at the site and also became emotional as he told the jury how he put his friend in a body bag. 'I've done it so many times, I didn't think these guys needed to do that,' he said. Mr Mellon said he disconnected Mr Wilson's harness, removed a handgun from his hip, and removed his mobile phone — handing it to Michael Burbidge, who was flying another helicopter and had been the first to arrive at the scene. He told the court Mr Burbidge told him Mr Wilson's wife Dani 'doesn't need to see what's on that' and later admitted the phone was 'in the ocean'. Mr Mellon agreed Mr Wright and Mr Burbidge were 'in and around' the crashed chopper's cockpit, but Mr Burns said he did not recall. In a bugged conversation months later, the court heard Mr Wright had allegedly said: 'He had run out of fuel. I'll just say he was a s*** pilot.' The prosecutor alleged Mr Wright repeatedly tried to manipulate the helicopter's documents, including pressuring Mr Robinson to forge records and suggested to others the original maintenance release should be 'destroyed'. Mr Gullaci alleged the celebrity was recorded saying: 'Just torch it, I don't know where it is.' 'Now they are starting to put the pressure on everyone, you know, they will start squealing,' he allegedly said in September. On Friday, the court was played a covertly recorded phone call between Mr Wright and Mr Burbidge from August 9, 2022. Mr Burbidge allegedly said to Mr Wright: 'Who's got the logbooks for IDW? There's been s**t written in it.' Mr Burbidge then told Mr Wright an anonymous 'source' told him engineers had been writing notes in the logbook, saying the helicopter had been flown when the hours meter was disconnected. 'They've said the clock's been off … so you need to find out who's f****** said it so you know who to trust and not to trust,' he said. Defence senior counsel David Edwardson said the charges against his client relied on statements made by Mr Robinson and his family whose 'credibility and reliability' was in question, as well as inaudible and unclear recordings. The jury heard the lengthy trial would likely focus on the trace levels of cocaine in Mr Robinson's blood. Mr Gullaci said expert evidence would be presented that indicated recreational use in the days before the crash. The trial before Justice Alan Blow will resume next week.
ABC News
2 days ago
- ABC News
Crocodiles, covert recordings and alleged lies in Outback Wrangler Matt Wright's trial
Covertly recorded late-night phone calls, a bugged house, and listening devices in a hospital room have all been deployed in the case against celebrity crocodile wrangler Matt Wright. The star of Netflix reality adventure show Wild Croc Territory has sat in the dock for the first week of his highly anticipated, high-profile Northern Territory Supreme Court trial, as the prosecution revealed the extent police have gone to try to gather evidence against him. The first days of this trial have also shed light on the extraordinary lives of men in the remote Northern Territory who fly helicopters and tangle with giant saltwater crocodiles for a living. Mr Wright has been charged with attempting to pervert the course of justice over events which allegedly occurred in the aftermath of a fatal helicopter crash which killed his close mate and co-star, Chris "Willow" Wilson, in remote west Arnhem Land on February 28, 2022. Mr Wilson was on a crocodile egg-collecting mission near King River, in a very remote corner of Arnhem Land, when the chopper he was hanging from on a harness went down. What happened in the hours, days and months after that crash is now being heard in detail — and a culture of alleged aviation industry rule-breaking has been brought into the open. In his opening speech, Crown prosecutor Jason Gullaci SC said the case "is not about who caused the crash … and certainly doesn't allege that Mr Wright was responsible". Rather, it centres on allegations Mr Wright tried to cover up a culture in his helicopter company, Helibrook, of misreporting flying hours to avoid costly maintenance requirements. "What the prosecution case is, is that Mr Wright was concerned after the crash that his failure would be revealed — that is, his failure to record hours — the real hours that the helicopters were being flown and that he could be blamed for the crash," Mr Gullaci said. Mr Wright is alleged to have doctored documents, lied to police and threatened to destroy evidence which, it has been alleged, was to cover up "systemic under-reporting… of [helicopter flying] hours that could be used as a way to blame him for the accident". The evidence which Mr Gullaci said would be introduced to the jury over coming weeks to try to prove these allegations included covert recordings from Mr Wright's home and phone. On one recording allegedly made after midnight more than six months after the crash, Mr Wright is on the phone to an associate, Jai Tomlinson, when he was alleged to have told Mr Tomlinson to destroy a helicopter maintenance document by saying "just burn the c***". "Just torch it," he's alleged to have said. In another conversation with his wife, Kaia Wright, Mr Wright is alleged to have made the comments regarding his flying hours: "I don't write shit down. I don't even have a f***ing log book." Mr Wright's barrister, David Edwardson KC, said his client "emphatically denies" the allegations. He questioned the strength of the evidence, including the audio quality of the covertly recorded phone calls and the reliability of key witness testimony. The first witnesses to take to the stand in Mr Wright's trial have included veterans of the crocodile industry, fellow helicopter pilots, and a former high-ranking NT police officer. First up was prominent Darwin crocodile farmer Mick Burns, who ran the business that contracted Mr Wilson and his team for the croc egg collecting mission. Mr Burns gave detailed accounts about the dangerous occupation of croc egg collecting. "Sometimes, you've got to land [the aircraft] and walk, you know, 100 or 200 metres in 14 or 15 foot cane grass," he said. "It's hot, it's humid, it's water. "And … it's obviously crocodile country, so there's a fair degree of risk there." The court heard that in the hours after Mr Wilson was killed in the helicopter crash, Mr Burns, Mr Wright and off-duty police officer Neil Mellon flew to the scene in a chopper. Among events alleged to have occurred at the site, an allegation that Mr Wright went into the downed helicopter and removed some items before playing "around with the dash". Another detail raised was that another chopper pilot at the scene, Mick Burbidge, was handed Mr Wilson's phone and told "Dani doesn't need to see what's on that", referring to Mr Wilson's widow, Danielle Wilson, before he allegedly disposed of the phone into the ocean. Those events have also, according to Mr Wright's barrister, Mr Edwardson, been the subject of unprecedented rumour outside of the court that he has pleaded with the jury to ignore. "There have been many ill-informed, if not scandalous, opinions expressed in many different forums from social media to commercial TV," he said. "This is a case which requires absolute intellectual rigour and discipline … you must not pre-judge Matt Wright or the issues in this case." With multiple weeks and witnesses yet to go, the trial in the NT Supreme Court continues.
