logo
Injured pilot's mother continues evidence at trial of Netflix star Matt Wright

Injured pilot's mother continues evidence at trial of Netflix star Matt Wright

The mother of helicopter pilot Sebastian Robinson is continuing to give evidence at celebrity crocodile wrangler Matt Wright's Northern Territory Supreme Court trial.
Mr Wright has pleaded not guilty to three counts of attempting to pervert the course of justice following a fatal chopper crash in the Northern Territory's remote Arnhem Land on February 28, 2022.
Mr Wright's close friend and co-star Chris "Willow" Wilson was killed in the accident and Mr Robinson, the pilot, was seriously injured.
The charges against Mr Wright relate to events that allegedly took place in the days, weeks and months after the accident.
If you missed yesterday's live coverage of the trial, you can catch up here.
To stay up to date with this story, subscribe to ABC News.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Former SAS soldier Oliver Schulz committed to stand trial for war crimes charge of murder
Former SAS soldier Oliver Schulz committed to stand trial for war crimes charge of murder

ABC News

time10 minutes ago

  • ABC News

Former SAS soldier Oliver Schulz committed to stand trial for war crimes charge of murder

A former special forces trooper will be the first Australian soldier to stand trial for a war crimes charge, more than 13 years after he shot dead a villager in an Afghan field. Former SAS trooper Oliver Schulz, 43, was charged in 2023 with the war crime of murder after helmet-cam footage aired on the ABC's Four Corners showed him in 2012 shooting Afghan man Dad Mohammad. Local court Magistrate Greg Grogin today committed Mr Schulz to stand trial in the NSW Supreme Court, after previously condemning delays from Commonwealth prosecutors. Mr Schulz faced a committal hearing in April and May, in which the local court heard from Australian Defence Force (ADF) witnesses and repeatedly watched footage of the killing. Mr Schulz could face life in jail if found guilty. The killing was first publicly revealed in March 2020 by ABC Investigations and Four Corners, sparking a three-year criminal investigation. The court heard that the footage, from the helmet camera of a dog handler on Mr Schulz's patrol, showed an SAS dog attacking Dad Mohammad in a wheat field during an ADF mission in Uruzgan Province, in southern Afghanistan. The dog is then called off and Mr Schulz is seen training his weapon on Dad Mohammad, who is lying on the ground. The soldier is heard asking three times: "You want me to drop this c***?" He then fires three shots at the man. Mr Mohammad was in his 20s and a father of two girls — a newborn and toddler — at the time of his death. He had a condition that stunted growth in one leg. ABC Investigations and Four Corners identified the dead man and tracked down his father and brother during their investigation. Afghan villagers first complained to the ADF about the killing months after the 2012 raid. However, ADF investigators cleared Mr Schulz, concluding that Dad Mohammad was lawfully killed because he posed a direct threat to the Australians. Investigators were told the Afghan man was holding a radio and "tactically manoeuvring". Mr Schulz will face the Supreme Court in October for arraignment. Under the Commonwealth Criminal Code, a killing constitutes the war crime of murder if the victim is not a combatant or is out of action due to injury or damage. Prosecutors must also prove that the perpetrator knew, or was reckless to, this fact. The killing does not constitute a war crime if it occurred as a result of an attack on a military objective, during which the perpetrator did not expect excessive civilian casualties.

DV royal commission recommends corporal punishment ban
DV royal commission recommends corporal punishment ban

ABC News

time10 minutes ago

  • ABC News

DV royal commission recommends corporal punishment ban

Corporal punishment including smacking has been used as an excuse for "awful abuse" and should be outlawed, a royal commissioner says. South Australia's Royal Commission into Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence publicly released 136 recommendations on Tuesday. One of those recommendations was a ban on parents or caregivers using corporal punishment. Royal commissioner and former senator Natasha Stott Despoja said young children told the commission there was a "double standard". "We tell young people and children that it's not OK to hit or smack and yet it's still considered an appropriate form of discipline," she told ABC News. The royal commission recommended the Attorney-General ban the use of corporal punishment by amending or repealing the defence of reasonable chastisement. "The reasonable chastisement defence relies on the use of force being not motivated by rage, malice or personal gratification, and that the punishment be reasonable for a child's age, size and health," the report finds. "Physical punishment, including beatings, slaps or threats, was often presented as acceptable parenting behaviour as a way of 'correcting behaviour' or 'teaching respect' and was often reinforced by religious, generational or cultural norms. "This made it difficult for the young people interviewed to determine 'whether what they experienced counted as abuse'. Another young person said parents or caregivers might think they were disciplining a child but what they were actually doing was "beyond discipline". Ms Stott Despoja said she did not think the ban was a "controversial" recommendation but she understood "people have strong feelings and I respect that". "I know a lot of people would say 'a rap on the knuckles or the wooden spoon', it's not just about the act itself, it's the symbolism that we say in Australia today you can hit a child to discipline them," she said. "Surely there are better ways." The findings reported more than 65 countries have outlawed the practice and that Australia was an "outlier". Researchers found in 2023 Australia's failure to outlaw the smacking of children violates the the UN Convention on the Rights of a Child treaty. The Queensland Law Reform Commission is this year considering the criminal code's domestic discipline defence, but Premier David Crisafulli said the government should not tell guardians how to parent. SA Attorney-General Kyam Maher told ABC Radio Adelaide current law states any physical force to a person, including a child, is considered an assault. He said the reasonable chastisement defence permits parents or guardians "to administer moderate and reasonable physical punishment to children in their care for correcting behaviour". Mr Maher said courts take into account different circumstances such as "the age, size, health of the child, the nature of the physical intervention and community standards". "That sort of corrective smacking today is very limited. It's moderate and reasonable force, and it depends on its nature of the acts involved, the level of force, et cetera," he said. "We have evolved with community standards and norms over time." Mr Maher said behaviour such as uncontrolled rage and physical abuse of a child was "not reasonable corrected behaviour" and "absolutely would not be covered by what is the common law defence at the moment". The Attorney-General said he had previously spoken with the premier when the topic arise "from time to time" but "no government has seen fit to progress amendments previously". He said the government would consider this and the remaining 135 recommendations carefully.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store