Matt Wright trial: Chopper crash pilot's brother says Sebastian Robinson used cocaine on Croc Wrangler's boat
Zachary Chellingworth testified at the trial of Outback Wrangler host Matt Wright, who is accused of attempting to pervert the course of justice over the chopper crash which killed his Netflix co-star Chris Wilson.
Under cross examination Mr Chellingworth admitted his brother had used cocaine but he 'cannot name the time' three times.
'I was aware of my brother's cocaine use . . . that it was few and far between,' he said
'He did not take drugs on a regular occasion. I'm his big brother so I know.'
Mr Wright's lawyer David Edwardson KC insisted the witness reveal the time and place he had seen Mr Robinson consume cocaine.
'It was my bucks party on Matt Wright's boat,' he said, which was in 2016.
Earlier Mr Chellingworth, a licensed aircraft maintenance engineer for CareFlight, recalled the morning he discovered his brother had been involved in a fatal crash.
'I received a phone call from mum, and she was quite distraught, telling me that Sebastian had been in an accident,' he said.
'Pretty much my colleagues have been dispatched to the site.'
The court heard that Mr Robinson lived in a cottage on the sprawling Darwin property of Wild Harvest NT director Mick Burns, who had contracted the egg collecting mission. Mr Robinson's hangar is also on Mr Burns' property.
Mr Chellingworth told the jury that after the crash, Mr Burns informed him and his mother that Mr Wright had 'collected the logbooks' from Mr Robinson's home.
'Mick Burns had notified myself and mum that Matt Wright had collected the log books from Mick Burns' residence, which is where Sebastian lives, and he (Mr Wright) had given them to a pilot named Jock Purcell and Jock Purcell held on to them,' he said.
Mr Chellingworth said that after being told this, he went to Mr Purcell's home – about a week after the crash – to retrieve the logbooks.
He said Mr Purcell was not home when he arrived but his wife handed them over.
'It was Sebastian's aircraft log book,' he said.
'It was in between A4 and A5 size, (inaudible) backing and gold writing.
'Every time Seb flies, he logs it in that logbook.'
Soon after, Mr Chellingworth visited Mr Robinson at the Royal Brisbane Hospital where Matt Wright is accused of pressuring the pilot to falsify flight records after the crash.
He confirmed COVID restrictions were in place and he had to provide proof of vaccination to gain entry to the hospital.
Mr Chellingworth said he was in his brother's private hospital room when Mr Wright arrived at the hospital with his wife Kaia and their young son to visit.
He told the court that he stayed in the room throughout the Wrights' hour-long visit.
'He (Mr Wright) was carrying some type of documentation,' Mr Chellingworth said.
'Matt Wright had said to Sebastian 'I need you to take 15 to 20 hours off IDW, the crash helicopter, and put them onto (his own helicopter) ZXZ' because they were hours unaccounted for.
'Sebastian responded and he said 'no'.
'He (Mr Wright) said, 'it's OK if you don't want to do it and we'll find another way'.'
Mr Chellingworth said Mr Wright also asked his brother to delete any texts, videos, notes and phone calls in relation to the crash.
'No he did not physically get hold of the phone,' he said.
'He asked Sebastian to delete things.
'Sebastian disagreed.'
Mr Chellingworth said the rest of the conversation was 'general chit chat about the helicopter and the accident'.
He did not recall Mr Wright leaving any documents at the hospital.
Mr Edwardson accused Mr Chellingworth of inventing his claims about Mr Wright's alleged actions during the March 11 hospital visit to protect his sibling.
'You, your mother and brother (Mr Robinson) have manufactured these claims against Matt Wright,' the lawyer suggested to the witness.
'You're making it up as you go along, aren't you?'
Mr Chellingworth replied, 'it's not true'.
'I'm telling the truth,' he said.
The trial before Acting Justice Alan Blow continues.
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"You're making this up as you go along," he said, with Ms Chellingworth replying "No I'm not". Mr Edwardson said Wright was simply helping her son get his paperwork up to date as he had a responsibility to do so as he was flying under Wright's air operators certificate. The jury has heard that Mr Robinson's flight records were not up to date. Mr Edwardson put it to Ms Chellingworth that her family colluded to try to "deflect the blame across to Mr Wright" to avoid Mr Robinson being blamed for the crash. "I do not agree at all," she replied. Ms Chellingworth admitted her son had asked her to source marijuana and she had forged his signature from time to time when helping him run his helicopter company. Earlier on Tuesday Mr Robinson's brother Zaccarie Chellingworth was also grilled over the bedside conversation between Wright and the injured pilot at the hospital. Wright had said he needed to take 15 to 20 hours off the crashed helicopter and put them on Mr Robinson's own chopper "because there were hours unaccounted for," Mr Chellingworth said. Under questioning from Mr Edwardson, Mr Chellingworth, a licensed aircraft engineer, said he was aware aviation crash investigators suspected the crashed chopper had run out of fuel. Mr Edwardson put it to Mr Chellingworth he knew his brother would be in trouble if fuel exhaustion was found to be the cause of the crash. Mr Chellingworth rejected that and Mr Edwardson's accusation that his family had "manufactured allegations" against Wright to protect Mr Robinson from blame for the crash. When asked about Mr Robinson's cocaine use, Mr Chellingworth said his brother was not an addict or a dealer and he had only seen him take the drug once, at a buck's party on Wright's boat. The trial continues on Wednesday. The mother of a pilot badly injured in a helicopter crash has vehemently denied she and her family concocted claims against reality TV star Matt Wright to protect her son. Wright, the star of Outback Wrangler, is on trial in Darwin Supreme Court having pleaded not guilty to three counts of attempting to pervert the course of justice. The charges follow the 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, 32, was left a paraplegic after the crash. The charges do not relate to the cause of the accident and the prosecution does not allege Wright is responsible for the crash, Mr Wilson's death or Mr Robinson's injuries. Wright has been accused of trying to get Mr Robinson to fake flying-hour records because he was concerned crash investigators would find out he and his pilots had disconnected flight-time meters and faked paperwork. On Tuesday Mr Robinson's mother, Noelene Chellingworth, told the jury Wright visited her son in Royal Brisbane Hospital 11 days after the crash. She said Wright asked her son to move flying hours from the crashed helicopter to Mr Robinson's machine. "Sebastian said that he would think about it," she said, but when Wright visited two days later her son told him he was "not comfortable" moving hours and declined to do so. Ms Chellingworth said she saw Wright standing over her son at his bedside telling him to "delete, delete, delete" messages on his phone. When she asked Wright why he was making demands of her son she said he "fobbed me off", saying "he's just cleaning up stuff". She said she got the feeling Wright wasn't really concerned about her son. In cross examination senior defence counsel David Edwardson KC put it to Ms Chellingworth that Wright had not asked Mr Robinson to transfer flying hours at all. "You're making this up as you go along," he said, with Ms Chellingworth replying "No I'm not". Mr Edwardson said Wright was simply helping her son get his paperwork up to date as he had a responsibility to do so as he was flying under Wright's air operators certificate. The jury has heard that Mr Robinson's flight records were not up to date. Mr Edwardson put it to Ms Chellingworth that her family colluded to try to "deflect the blame across to Mr Wright" to avoid Mr Robinson being blamed for the crash. "I do not agree at all," she replied. Ms Chellingworth admitted her son had asked her to source marijuana and she had forged his signature from time to time when helping him run his helicopter company. Earlier on Tuesday Mr Robinson's brother Zaccarie Chellingworth was also grilled over the bedside conversation between Wright and the injured pilot at the hospital. Wright had said he needed to take 15 to 20 hours off the crashed helicopter and put them on Mr Robinson's own chopper "because there were hours unaccounted for," Mr Chellingworth said. Under questioning from Mr Edwardson, Mr Chellingworth, a licensed aircraft engineer, said he was aware aviation crash investigators suspected the crashed chopper had run out of fuel. Mr Edwardson put it to Mr Chellingworth he knew his brother would be in trouble if fuel exhaustion was found to be the cause of the crash. Mr Chellingworth rejected that and Mr Edwardson's accusation that his family had "manufactured allegations" against Wright to protect Mr Robinson from blame for the crash. When asked about Mr Robinson's cocaine use, Mr Chellingworth said his brother was not an addict or a dealer and he had only seen him take the drug once, at a buck's party on Wright's boat. The trial continues on Wednesday. The mother of a pilot badly injured in a helicopter crash has vehemently denied she and her family concocted claims against reality TV star Matt Wright to protect her son. Wright, the star of Outback Wrangler, is on trial in Darwin Supreme Court having pleaded not guilty to three counts of attempting to pervert the course of justice. The charges follow the 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, 32, was left a paraplegic after the crash. The charges do not relate to the cause of the accident and the prosecution does not allege Wright is responsible for the crash, Mr Wilson's death or Mr Robinson's injuries. Wright has been accused of trying to get Mr Robinson to fake flying-hour records because he was concerned crash investigators would find out he and his pilots had disconnected flight-time meters and faked paperwork. On Tuesday Mr Robinson's mother, Noelene Chellingworth, told the jury Wright visited her son in Royal Brisbane Hospital 11 days after the crash. She said Wright asked her son to move flying hours from the crashed helicopter to Mr Robinson's machine. "Sebastian said that he would think about it," she said, but when Wright visited two days later her son told him he was "not comfortable" moving hours and declined to do so. Ms Chellingworth said she saw Wright standing over her son at his bedside telling him to "delete, delete, delete" messages on his phone. When she asked Wright why he was making demands of her son she said he "fobbed me off", saying "he's just cleaning up stuff". She said she got the feeling Wright wasn't really concerned about her son. In cross examination senior defence counsel David Edwardson KC put it to Ms Chellingworth that Wright had not asked Mr Robinson to transfer flying hours at all. "You're making this up as you go along," he said, with Ms Chellingworth replying "No I'm not". Mr Edwardson said Wright was simply helping her son get his paperwork up to date as he had a responsibility to do so as he was flying under Wright's air operators certificate. The jury has heard that Mr Robinson's flight records were not up to date. Mr Edwardson put it to Ms Chellingworth that her family colluded to try to "deflect the blame across to Mr Wright" to avoid Mr Robinson being blamed for the crash. "I do not agree at all," she replied. Ms Chellingworth admitted her son had asked her to source marijuana and she had forged his signature from time to time when helping him run his helicopter company. Earlier on Tuesday Mr Robinson's brother Zaccarie Chellingworth was also grilled over the bedside conversation between Wright and the injured pilot at the hospital. Wright had said he needed to take 15 to 20 hours off the crashed helicopter and put them on Mr Robinson's own chopper "because there were hours unaccounted for," Mr Chellingworth said. Under questioning from Mr Edwardson, Mr Chellingworth, a licensed aircraft engineer, said he was aware aviation crash investigators suspected the crashed chopper had run out of fuel. Mr Edwardson put it to Mr Chellingworth he knew his brother would be in trouble if fuel exhaustion was found to be the cause of the crash. Mr Chellingworth rejected that and Mr Edwardson's accusation that his family had "manufactured allegations" against Wright to protect Mr Robinson from blame for the crash. When asked about Mr Robinson's cocaine use, Mr Chellingworth said his brother was not an addict or a dealer and he had only seen him take the drug once, at a buck's party on Wright's boat. The trial continues on Wednesday.
