Landmark pepper spray trial in crime-hit community
The Northern Territory is set to become only the second jurisdiction in the country to allow residents to carry pepper spray, giving people "more choice when it comes to personal safety".
Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro said a 12-month trial was set to launch from September, allowing approved members of the public to carry a low-percentage Oleoresin Capsicum (OC) spray under strict legal conditions.
The move was part of the NT government's justice reforms that focus on reducing crime and restoring community safety and security, she said.
"We're strengthening the frontline with more police, stronger laws and better prevention, but we also believe individuals should have lawful tools to protect themselves if needed," Ms Finocchiaro said in a statement.
Ms Finocchiaro's government made law and order the cornerstone of its first budget with a record $1.5 billion investment in corrections, courts and police.
The NT government also lowered the age of criminal responsibility from 12 to 10 and introduced tougher bail laws.
Data shows the NT has an incarceration rate three times greater than anywhere else in Australia and has the highest reoffending rate, with six out of 10 prisoners returning to jail within two years of release.
Consultation to determine the trial's specifics will be led by NT Police, industry bodies, licensees, other key stakeholders and the broader community.
The initiative would ensure the NT joins Western Australia as the only jurisdictions in Australia allowing residents to carry pepper spray.
"This is about giving Territorians more choice when it comes to personal safety," the chief minister said.
"This is about equipping Territorians with more options, not less control."
Approved OC spray is set to be made available for purchase from licensed dealers across the NT from September 1.
The NT proposal comes as a class action trial in Victoria winds up involving climate protester Jordan Brown challenging the police's use of pepper spray against him during a mining protest.
His lawyers have told the Supreme Court that Victoria Police's use of the spray on him at a 2019 protest outside the International Mining and Resources Conference in Melbourne was violent and excessive.
But lawyers for Victoria Police claim the use of force was lawful, as protesters were impeding officers from making an arrest.
Closing submissions before Judge Claire Harris are being heard on Wednesday and Thursday.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Advertiser
7 hours ago
- The Advertiser
Chopper death crash pilot details lies to investigators
A pilot who survived a deadly helicopter crash has detailed lies he told investigators after deleting phone messages, saying he was in a "very bad way" at the time with life-changing injuries. Sebastian Robinson is a paraplegic after the crash in February 2022 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 reality TV star Matt 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 on Wednesday gave evidence by video link from his wheelchair. The jury heard 10 days after the crash Wright visited Mr Robinson while he was heavily sedated in hospital and asked him to manipulate flying hour records. Under questioning from senior defence counsel for Wright, David Edwardson KC, Mr Robinson admitted he had lied to Australian Transport Safety Bureau investigators around the same time. Among the lies were that before the crash the helicopter was functioning well and he was busy with the role of maintenance controller at Wright's Helibrook company when in fact he held the position in name only. Mr Robinson admitted saying there had only been a spark plug issue with the helicopter when "there were many more problems with the aircraft". He said his condition hindered his proper judgment at the time. "I was in a very bad way." The 32-year-old told the jury on Tuesday he had fractures of his vertebrae, resulting in a complete severance of his spinal cord, rendering him a paraplegic. Both his lungs were punctured, his left elbow and ankles were fractured and he suffered a traumatic brain injury that still causes him cognition problems and mood swings. Mr Edwardson has previously alleged in the lead-up to the crash Mr Robinson was a cocaine-using "party animal" who was "hopeless" at flight record keeping. The court on Wednesday heard Mr Robinson had done contract work with Indigenous groups in Arnhem Land, including Aboriginal rangers. Under questioning by Mr Edwardson, Mr Robinson agreed it was "unforgivable" to supply alcohol or illegal drugs to Indigenous communities where liquor was banned. "There might have been the occasion I'd have a very small amount of alcohol under the seat of the helicopter, but I wasn't supplying a commercial amount," he said. The court heard Wright visited Mr Robinson in Royal Brisbane Hospital when he was heavily sedated with "tubes coming out of me everywhere". Crown prosecutor Jason Gullaci SC asked Mr Robinson what Wright had requested of him at his hospital bedside and he replied "to manipulate hours on my aircraft". "He asked if I would consider putting any of his hours, from his helicopter, onto my helicopter." The court was told Mr Robinson was being asked to put egg-collecting hours flown on Wright's crashed helicopter onto his helicopter, which was not fitted with equipment for egg collecting. Mr Robinson said he told Wright on a return visit the next day that "I didn't feel comfortable doing it". The court was told Mr Robinson was asked to fly egg-collecting missions in Arnhem Land, where COVID restrictions were in place, because Wright was an anti-vaxxer and could not enter the Indigenous territory. Jurors heard Wright visited Mr Robinson in hospital despite requirements to show a COVID vaccination certificate and having to complete a test for the virus. 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. A pilot who survived a deadly helicopter crash has detailed lies he told investigators after deleting phone messages, saying he was in a "very bad way" at the time with life-changing injuries. Sebastian Robinson is a paraplegic after the crash in February 2022 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 reality TV star Matt 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 on Wednesday gave evidence by video link from his wheelchair. The jury heard 10 days after the crash Wright visited Mr Robinson while he was heavily sedated in hospital and asked him to manipulate flying hour records. Under questioning from senior defence counsel for Wright, David Edwardson KC, Mr Robinson admitted he had lied to Australian Transport Safety Bureau investigators around the same time. Among the lies were that before the crash the helicopter was functioning well and he was busy with the role of maintenance controller at Wright's Helibrook company when in fact he held the position in name only. Mr Robinson admitted saying there had only been a spark plug issue with the helicopter when "there were many more problems with the aircraft". He said his condition hindered his proper judgment at the time. "I was in a very bad way." The 32-year-old told the jury on Tuesday he had fractures of his vertebrae, resulting in a complete severance of his spinal cord, rendering him a paraplegic. Both his lungs were punctured, his left elbow and ankles were fractured and he suffered a traumatic brain injury that still causes him cognition problems and mood swings. Mr Edwardson has previously alleged in the lead-up to the crash Mr Robinson was a cocaine-using "party animal" who was "hopeless" at flight record keeping. The court on Wednesday heard Mr Robinson had done contract work with Indigenous groups in Arnhem Land, including Aboriginal rangers. Under questioning by Mr Edwardson, Mr Robinson agreed it was "unforgivable" to supply alcohol or illegal drugs to Indigenous communities where liquor was banned. "There might have been the occasion I'd have a very small amount of alcohol under the seat of the helicopter, but I wasn't supplying a commercial amount," he said. The court heard Wright visited Mr Robinson in Royal Brisbane Hospital when he was heavily sedated with "tubes coming out of me everywhere". Crown prosecutor Jason Gullaci SC asked Mr Robinson what Wright had requested of him at his hospital bedside and he replied "to manipulate hours on my aircraft". "He asked if I would consider putting any of his hours, from his helicopter, onto my helicopter." The court was told Mr Robinson was being asked to put egg-collecting hours flown on Wright's crashed helicopter onto his helicopter, which was not fitted with equipment for egg collecting. Mr Robinson said he told Wright on a return visit the next day that "I didn't feel comfortable doing it". The court was told Mr Robinson was asked to fly egg-collecting missions in Arnhem Land, where COVID restrictions were in place, because Wright was an anti-vaxxer and could not enter the Indigenous territory. Jurors heard Wright visited Mr Robinson in hospital despite requirements to show a COVID vaccination certificate and having to complete a test for the virus. 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. A pilot who survived a deadly helicopter crash has detailed lies he told investigators after deleting phone messages, saying he was in a "very bad way" at the time with life-changing injuries. Sebastian Robinson is a paraplegic after the crash in February 2022 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 reality TV star Matt 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 on Wednesday gave evidence by video link from his wheelchair. The jury heard 10 days after the crash Wright visited Mr Robinson while he was heavily sedated in hospital and asked him to manipulate flying hour records. Under questioning from senior defence counsel for Wright, David Edwardson KC, Mr Robinson admitted he had lied to Australian Transport Safety Bureau investigators around the same time. Among the lies were that before the crash the helicopter was functioning well and he was busy with the role of maintenance controller at Wright's Helibrook company when in fact he held the position in name only. Mr Robinson admitted saying there had only been a spark plug issue with the helicopter when "there were many more problems with the aircraft". He said his condition hindered his proper judgment at the time. "I was in a very bad way." The 32-year-old told the jury on Tuesday he had fractures of his vertebrae, resulting in a complete severance of his spinal cord, rendering him a paraplegic. Both his lungs were punctured, his left elbow and ankles were fractured and he suffered a traumatic brain injury that still causes him cognition problems and mood swings. Mr Edwardson has previously alleged in the lead-up to the crash Mr Robinson was a cocaine-using "party animal" who was "hopeless" at flight record keeping. The court on Wednesday heard Mr Robinson had done contract work with Indigenous groups in Arnhem Land, including Aboriginal rangers. Under questioning by Mr Edwardson, Mr Robinson agreed it was "unforgivable" to supply alcohol or illegal drugs to Indigenous communities where liquor was banned. "There might have been the occasion I'd have a very small amount of alcohol under the seat of the helicopter, but I wasn't supplying a commercial amount," he said. The court heard Wright visited Mr Robinson in Royal Brisbane Hospital when he was heavily sedated with "tubes coming out of me everywhere". Crown prosecutor Jason Gullaci SC asked Mr Robinson what Wright had requested of him at his hospital bedside and he replied "to manipulate hours on my aircraft". "He asked if I would consider putting any of his hours, from his helicopter, onto my helicopter." The court was told Mr Robinson was being asked to put egg-collecting hours flown on Wright's crashed helicopter onto his helicopter, which was not fitted with equipment for egg collecting. Mr Robinson said he told Wright on a return visit the next day that "I didn't feel comfortable doing it". The court was told Mr Robinson was asked to fly egg-collecting missions in Arnhem Land, where COVID restrictions were in place, because Wright was an anti-vaxxer and could not enter the Indigenous territory. Jurors heard Wright visited Mr Robinson in hospital despite requirements to show a COVID vaccination certificate and having to complete a test for the virus. 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. A pilot who survived a deadly helicopter crash has detailed lies he told investigators after deleting phone messages, saying he was in a "very bad way" at the time with life-changing injuries. Sebastian Robinson is a paraplegic after the crash in February 2022 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 reality TV star Matt 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 on Wednesday gave evidence by video link from his wheelchair. The jury heard 10 days after the crash Wright visited Mr Robinson while he was heavily sedated in hospital and asked him to manipulate flying hour records. Under questioning from senior defence counsel for Wright, David Edwardson KC, Mr Robinson admitted he had lied to Australian Transport Safety Bureau investigators around the same time. Among the lies were that before the crash the helicopter was functioning well and he was busy with the role of maintenance controller at Wright's Helibrook company when in fact he held the position in name only. Mr Robinson admitted saying there had only been a spark plug issue with the helicopter when "there were many more problems with the aircraft". He said his condition hindered his proper judgment at the time. "I was in a very bad way." The 32-year-old told the jury on Tuesday he had fractures of his vertebrae, resulting in a complete severance of his spinal cord, rendering him a paraplegic. Both his lungs were punctured, his left elbow and ankles were fractured and he suffered a traumatic brain injury that still causes him cognition problems and mood swings. Mr Edwardson has previously alleged in the lead-up to the crash Mr Robinson was a cocaine-using "party animal" who was "hopeless" at flight record keeping. The court on Wednesday heard Mr Robinson had done contract work with Indigenous groups in Arnhem Land, including Aboriginal rangers. Under questioning by Mr Edwardson, Mr Robinson agreed it was "unforgivable" to supply alcohol or illegal drugs to Indigenous communities where liquor was banned. "There might have been the occasion I'd have a very small amount of alcohol under the seat of the helicopter, but I wasn't supplying a commercial amount," he said. The court heard Wright visited Mr Robinson in Royal Brisbane Hospital when he was heavily sedated with "tubes coming out of me everywhere". Crown prosecutor Jason Gullaci SC asked Mr Robinson what Wright had requested of him at his hospital bedside and he replied "to manipulate hours on my aircraft". "He asked if I would consider putting any of his hours, from his helicopter, onto my helicopter." The court was told Mr Robinson was being asked to put egg-collecting hours flown on Wright's crashed helicopter onto his helicopter, which was not fitted with equipment for egg collecting. Mr Robinson said he told Wright on a return visit the next day that "I didn't feel comfortable doing it". The court was told Mr Robinson was asked to fly egg-collecting missions in Arnhem Land, where COVID restrictions were in place, because Wright was an anti-vaxxer and could not enter the Indigenous territory. Jurors heard Wright visited Mr Robinson in hospital despite requirements to show a COVID vaccination certificate and having to complete a test for the virus. 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.
Perth Now
8 hours ago
- Perth Now
‘Delete': Alleged hospital ask of paraplegic crash survivor
A paraplegic pilot who survived a fatal chopper crash says reality television star Matt Wright visited him in hospital and asked him to manipulate flight records before deleting data from his phone. Sebastian Robinson has told the jury in Mr Wright's criminal trial that he was still heavily sedated, in 'very bad shape' and 'hallucinating' when the celebrity croc-wrangler visited him in hospital in March 2022. Just days earlier – on February 28 – Mr Robinson was critically injured when the helicopter he was flying crashed during a crocodile egg collecting mission at West Arnhem Land. His friend and egg collector Chris Wilson, who had been slinging beneath the chopper, was killed. Outback Wrangler Matt Wright and his wife Kaia Wright approaching the Supreme Court in Darwin on Tuesday August 12. NewsWire/ Zizi Averill Credit: News Corp Australia The aircraft – a Robinson R44, registered VH-IDW – was owned and operated by Mr Wright's since-liquidated company Helibrook. Mr Wright is on trial in the Northern Territory Supreme Court after being charged with three counts of attempting to pervert the course of justice in relation to the investigation into the fatal crash. The 45-year-old Top End tourism operator has pleaded not guilty to all charges. During his second day of evidence Mr Robinson told the jury that Mr Wright visited him in Royal Brisbane Hospital twice after the crash. The first visit, with his wife Kaia, was on March 11. Mr Robinson said he was hallucinating and 'in a very bad shape'. 'I had tubes coming out of me everywhere, I had braces on my neck, ankles and elbow,' he told the court. 'I was still heavily sedated and under a lot of medication. 'If I wanted to get out of bed I had to put a neck brace on, I had to get a hoist to lift me into a wheelchair.' Mr Robinson said Mr Wright brought some documents with him to the hospital. 'I remember laying in the bed looking down at an arrangement of documents all across in front of me,' he said. Under questioning from crown prosecutor Jason Gullaci SC, Mr Robinson confirmed Mr Wright had left two documents at the hospital and his mother, Noelene Chellingworth, took a photograph of them. Mr Gullaci asked Mr Robinson why Mr Wright had visited. Pilot Sebastian Robinson, who was critically injured in the chopper crash that killed Netflix star Chris Wilson, is expected to give evidence at Outback Wrangler Matt Wright's criminal trial in Darwin. Credit: Unknown / Supplied The 32-year-old said the Outback Wrangler host had wanted 'to manipulate hours on my aircraft'. 'He asked if I would consider putting any of his hours, from his helicopter, on to my helicopter.' The court heard Mr Robinson was being asked to put egg-collecting hours flown in VH-IDW on to his own helicopter, registered VH-ZXZ, which was not equipped for egg collecting. 'ZXZ was not fitted with dual hooks to sling people,' he said. 'It was not used for the purpose of human external cargo and was not fitted with the equipment to do so. 'I was still in a pretty bad way, very confused and knew something wasn't right and I said I'd think about it, from memory. 'I remember something along the lines of him saying, 'Just have a think about it and I'll come back and see you tomorrow'.' Mr Wright then visited Mr Robinson in hospital again on March 13 and brought his friend Jai Tomlinson with him. Mr Wright allegedly brought up the transfer of flight hours from IDW to ZXZ. 'I just remember having concerns about what was happening,' Mr Robinson said. 'I said I didn't feel comfortable doing it. 'I don't think he was upset, from the way I remember it he sort of said, 'that's OK',' he said. Mr Robinson alleged Mr Wright also asked for the injured pilots personal mobile phone. 'He asked to go through my phone and delete a few things,' Mr Robinson said. 'I remember looking over and seeing him holding my phone and flicking through it and deleting things.' Mr Robinson said he also 'vaguely' remembers 'deleting notes out of my phone' while Mr Wright was with him at hospital. 'Start and stop times for IDW for egg collection,' he said. 'They were notes in my iPhone that I would send to him, for example, at the end of the week after a week of collecting. 'It was a very hard time for me. I didn't know who to trust and I panicked and went along with it.' Snippets of a secret recording made during Mr Wright's hospital visit were also played to the jury. In the recording Mr Wright can allegedly be heard talking to someone on his mobile phone, while in the hospital room with Mr Robinson, about the manipulation of his flight records. Mr Gullaci said Mr Wright can be heard, in one section of the recording, asking someone 'we don't even need to fill a trip sheet out for that do we?'. Mr Robinson said trip sheets had not been used at Helibrook for years and he had not completed one for at least 12 months prior to the crash. 'There was a small period, from memory, with the previous chief pilot, where he showed us how to use them but it wasn't common practice to fill them out,' he said. When Mr Gullaci on Wednesday presented Mr Robinson with three trip sheets he had purportedly filled out in February 2022, Mr Robinson denied it was his handwriting. 'Did you fill that in?' Mr Gullaci asked. 'No I did not,' Mr Robinson said. Pilot Sebastian Robinson, who was critically injured in the chopper crash that killed Netflix star Chris Wilson, is expected to give evidence at Outback Wrangler Matt Wright's criminal trial in Darwin. PICTURED: Pilot Sebastian Robinson (l) and Chris Wilson Unknown Credit: Unknown / Supplied 'That's fabricated. I did not do that,' he said. Earlier on Wednesday the court heard Mr Wright was not on the egg-collecting mission the day of the crash 'because he was an anti-vaxxer' so could not enter Arnhem Land where strict COVID restrictions were in place. 'It was just common knowledge that he wasn't vaccinated, so he couldn't do any work in Arnhem Land,' he said. 'Everyone knew that Matt was an anti-vaxxer so he could only fly in places where there weren't restrictions.' Despite this, Mr Wright flew to the remote crash site after learning of the accident. Mr Robinson said there were also restrictions on who could visit him in hospital and that visitors 'had to have a valid COVID certificate'. The trial before acting Justice Alan Blow continues.
Sky News AU
9 hours ago
- Sky News AU
Neighbour speaks of horror after discovering bodies of pregnant woman and her partner in Melbourne
The neighbour who discovered the bodies of a pregnant woman and her partner has spoken of the horror at what he witnessed at the scene of the alleged murder. The 39-year-old Athena Georgopoulos and 50-year-old Andrew Gunn were found dead in their Mount Waverly home at 9.55pm on Monday night, with reports saying the pregnant woman's partner had been decapitated and his head mounted on a spike. The couple's bodies were discovered by neighbour Ben Scott Sandvik, who struggled to get out the words to describe what he had seen. "No one should have to come across what I saw down there … And nobody needs to live knowing that this sort of thing has happened to their families,' he told the Herald Sun. Victoria Police has arrested and charged 34-year-old homeless man Ross Judd over the 'targeted' attack, but Mr Scott Sandvik said the alleged perpetrator was also the victim of a broken system. 'You don't prevent this thing by punishing any harder. People like that need help,' he said. Tributes from family and friends have poured in for Ms Georgopoulos, who was five months pregnant at the time of her death. In a message posted to social media in Greek, the 39-year-old's mother spoke about the joy they had shared when her daughter discovered she was pregnant. 'My love, you left this life so quick and I still can't believe how happy you were in the last few days,' she said. 'We dreamed of the granddaughter you were going to bring into your life world and just like that everything disappeared by the murder that took your life and my granddaughters that you were bringing into this world in 4 months. 'No matter how much they have broken us apart, I will forever love you.' The couple's Melbourne home was graffiti messages including, "U R Gay", "Enough is Enough", "Betrayal", and 'Karma is not a menu". A Victoria Police spokesperson has confirmed investigators are looking into whether the graffiti is linked to the gruesome alleged murder. Victoria Police have requested a 10-week extension to prepare a brief of evidence in the case, which has been granted by the Court.
