1h agoWed 13 Aug 2025 at 7:46am<\/p>\n
A recap of today’s evidence<\/p>\n
Jurors in the criminal trial of Matt Wright <\/b>have just wrapped up another day of hearing evidence from\u00a0Sebastian Robinson.<\/b><\/p>\n
Mr Robinson <\/b>was piloting the chopper in the fatal 2022 crash and was left with serious injuries, rendering him a paraplegic.<\/p>\n
During the prosecution’s questioning of Mr Robinson,<\/b> the jury heard:<\/p>\n Defence barrister David Edwardson KC<\/b> then cross-examined Mr Robinson<\/b> in the afternoon, where the jury heard:<\/p>\n The defence will continue questioning Mr Robinson<\/b> tomorrow from 10am ACST.<\/p>\n We’ll be back with you then.<\/p>\n 2h agoWed 13 Aug 2025 at 7:17am<\/p>\n Court adjourns for the day<\/p>\n That’s all the evidence for today.<\/p>\n We’ll be back with you for more of defence barrister\u00a0David Edwardson KC’s<\/b> cross-examination of pilot\u00a0Sebastian Robinson<\/b> from 10am ACST<\/b> tomorrow.<\/p>\n Thanks for being with us.<\/p>\n 2h agoWed 13 Aug 2025 at 7:12amHelicopter pilot lied to investigators after crash<\/p>\n Helicopter pilot Sebastian Robinson<\/b> has admitted to lying to investigators in the days following a fatal crash that left him a paraplegic.<\/p>\n Under cross-examination by defence barrister David Edwardson KC<\/b>, Mr Robinson<\/b> agreed he had lied to the ATSB<\/b>\u00a0(Australian Transport Safety Authority)\u00a0<\/b>because he “panicked and I was in a very bad way”.<\/p>\n Mr Edwardson<\/b> read from a transcribed interview with an investigator who told Mr Robinson<\/b> the helicopter had “a completely clean maintenance release [form]”, saying “there’s like, nothing on it”.<\/p>\n Mr Edwardson<\/b> said Mr Robinson<\/b> had responded that it “might have done a plug on me last season and this year it hasn’t missed a beat”.<\/p>\n But in response to the defence’s questions today, Mr Robinson<\/b> said there were actually “many more problems with the aircraft”.<\/p>\n Mr Edwardson<\/b> also asked about a passage in the interview in which Mr Robinson<\/b> told investigators he had stopped drinking prior to the crash.<\/p>\n “You said, ‘This year I haven’t been drinking’, is that true?” Mr Edwardson<\/b> asked.<\/p>\n “No, it’s not true, I had consumed alcohol,” Mr Robinson<\/b> replied.<\/p>\n “Why did you lie?”<\/p>\n “I dunno, it was just the way that I felt, to be honest with you I can’t remember answering that question.”<\/p>\n “You were deliberately trying to mislead these interviewers?”<\/p>\n “That’s your opinion, obviously I didn’t tell the truth entirely but you know, I panicked.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n 2h agoWed 13 Aug 2025 at 6:35am<\/p>\n Defence probes pilot’s post-crash interviews<\/p>\n Defence counsel David Edwardson KC<\/b> has been taking pilot Sebastian Robinson<\/b> through interviews he gave to police and the Australian Transport Safety Authority<\/b> after the crash.<\/p>\n Mr Edwardson<\/b> probed Mr Robinson<\/b> on various statements he made at the time, including the men’s morale ahead of the fatal trip and a plan to go fishing.<\/p>\n The court is now taking another short break.<\/p>\n 3h agoWed 13 Aug 2025 at 6:11am<\/p>\n Pilot denies seeking workers’ compensation via Matt Wright’s company<\/p>\n Defence barrister David Edwardson KC<\/b> is taking helicopter pilot Sebastian Robinson<\/b> through various invoices he sent for crocodile egg collecting work.<\/p>\n Mr Robinson<\/b> denied sending an invoice to Matt Wright’s<\/b> company, instead of crocodile farmer Mick Burns’s<\/b> company for workers’ compensation insurance purposes.<\/p>\n “So you say it’s got nothing to do with workers compensation at all?” Mr Edwardson<\/b>\u00a0asked.<\/p>\n “Not that I’m aware of,” Mr Robinson<\/b> replied.<\/p>\n The jury heard last week Mr Burns<\/b> had contracted the three crews on the crocodile egg collecting mission on the day of the fatal crash.<\/p>\n 3h agoWed 13 Aug 2025 at 5:39am<\/p>\n Afternoon tea<\/p>\n The jurors are taking their afternoon break and we’ll be back in about 20 minutes.<\/p>\n 3h agoWed 13 Aug 2025 at 5:34am<\/p>\n Pilot questioned about bringing alcohol to Indigenous communities<\/p>\n Helicopter pilot Sebastian Robinson<\/b> has admitted to bringing small quantities of alcohol onto Aboriginal land but says he never supplied alcohol or drugs on a commercial scale.<\/p>\n In cross-examination, defence counsel David Edwardson KC<\/b> asked Mr Robinson<\/b> about flights he would do, separately to work involving Mr Wright<\/b>, on Aboriginal land prior to the crash.<\/p>\n “Do you deny that at any stage you were supplying alcohol to members of the remote Indigenous Australian groups that you would fly into?” Mr Edwardson<\/b> asked.<\/p>\n “In a commercial way?” Mr Robinson<\/b> responded.<\/p>\n “No, supplying, providing?”<\/p>\n “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.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n But Mr Robinson<\/b>\u00a0denied bringing in any cannabis or other drugs.<\/p>\n “It would be unforgivable, would it not, to supply those communities, that is, provide them, with either alcohol or marijuana?” Mr Edwardson<\/b> asked.<\/p>\n “Correct,” Mr Robinson<\/b> replied.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n 4h agoWed 13 Aug 2025 at 5:24am<\/p>\n Matt Wright helped finance pilot’s first helicopter<\/p>\n Defence barrister David Edwardson KC<\/b> is asking helicopter pilot Sebastian Robinson<\/b> about the work he did for Matt Wright<\/b> in the six months before the crash.<\/p>\n Mr Edwardson<\/b> asked Mr Robinson<\/b> if he did any work other than crocodile egg collecting for Mr Wright<\/b>.<\/p>\n “We’re going back a few years now, it’s a bit hard to remember but I may have done some other flying with him,” Mr Robinson<\/b> said.<\/p>\n “Maybe some corporate tours or something along them lines.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Mr Robinson<\/b> says Mr Wright<\/b> helped finance the first helicopter Mr Robinson<\/b> bought for himself.<\/p>\n “Mr Wright<\/b> owed me quite a sum of money and I’d not been paid for quite a while,” he said.<\/p>\n “I told him I wanted to buy a helicopter and he said he’d use that money to put down a deposit for that helicopter.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n 4h agoWed 13 Aug 2025 at 5:03am<\/p>\n Defence to begin cross-examination<\/p>\n Crown prosecutor Jason Gullaci SC<\/b> has now finished his questions and the court is taking a short break before cross-examination begins.<\/p>\n Defence counsel David Edwardson KC<\/b> will begin questioning pilot Sebastian Robinson<\/b> when the jury returns.<\/p>\n 4h agoWed 13 Aug 2025 at 4:58amJury hears snippets of secret recording<\/p>\n Chopper pilot Sebastian Robinson<\/b> is back in the witness box, being asked by Crown prosecutor Jason Gullaci SC<\/b> about the recording of Matt Wright<\/b> at the hospital.<\/p>\n Mr Gullaci<\/b> is quoting snippets of the recording attributed to Mr Wright<\/b>, in which he says “no, it’s not in yours, it’s, ’cause we did that, it’s in this spot here” and “you don’t need it, if you don’t want to do it, that’s fine”.<\/p>\n But Mr Robinson<\/b> says he has little recollection of what was being discussed.<\/p>\n The jury heard earlier Mr Wright<\/b> visited Mr Robinson<\/b> in a Brisbane <\/b>hospital in the weeks after the 2022 chopper crash.<\/p>\n Mr Robinson<\/b> said Mr Wright <\/b>asked him to “manipulate” flight hours, and went through the pilot’s phone “deleting things”.<\/p>\n Mr Robinson<\/b> was left with serious injuries in the crash, leaving him a paraplegic.<\/p>\n 5h agoWed 13 Aug 2025 at 4:08am<\/p>\n Matt Wright\u2019s charges explained<\/p>\n While court is on a lunch break, here’s an overview of the charges.<\/p>\n Matt Wright<\/b>\u00a0has\u00a0been charged with three counts of attempting to pervert the course of justice.<\/p>\n The charges relate to alleged events in the hours, days and months following a fatal helicopter crash in remote West Arnhem Land<\/b> which killed Mr Wright’s<\/b> close mate and Netflix co-star,\u00a0Chris Wilson.<\/b><\/p>\n Crown prosecutor\u00a0Jason Gullaci SC\u00a0<\/b>has told jurors\u00a0the cause of the chopper accident is not the subject of Mr Wright’s<\/b> charges.<\/p>\n Instead, each of the charges allege\u00a0Mr Wright<\/b>\u00a0tried to interfere with or obstruct ongoing investigations into the crash.<\/p>\n For more background on the case, check out our weekend read below.<\/p>\n 5h agoWed 13 Aug 2025 at 3:41am<\/p>\n Want to hear more on the Matt Wright case?<\/p>\n The ABC <\/b>has launched a new podcast called The Case Of<\/b>, which in its first season will cover the Matt Wright<\/b> trial.<\/p>\n In episode two Northern Territory court reporter Olivana Lathouris<\/b> and Stephen Stockwell<\/b>\u00a0unpack the prosecution’s case against Matt Wright<\/b>, and how his legal team will defend the charges.<\/p>\n You can listen to The Case Of <\/b>the croc wrangler on the ABC Listen<\/b> app or wherever you get your podcasts.<\/p>\n 6h agoWed 13 Aug 2025 at 3:21am<\/p>\n Lunch time<\/p>\n We’ve now taken a slightly later lunch break than usual and the jury will be back in court from 2:15pm ACST<\/b>.<\/p>\n We’ll be back with more live updates then.<\/p>\n 6h agoWed 13 Aug 2025 at 3:20amPilot says trip sheets ‘fabricated’<\/p>\n Crown prosecutor Jason Gullaci SC<\/b> has pointed to a section of the recording he says contains the words “we don’t even need to fill a trip sheet out for that do we”.<\/p>\n When Mr Gullaci<\/b> asked Sebastian Robinson<\/b> whether he was familiar with such a document, the pilot said they had once been used at Matt Wright’s<\/b> company, Helibrook<\/b>, but “not in years”.<\/p>\n “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.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Mr Robinson<\/b> said he had “never” filled out a trip sheet in the 12 months before the crash and denied filling out three such documents shown to him by Mr Gullaci<\/b> dated early February, 2022.<\/p>\n “That’s fabricated, I did not do that,” he said.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n 6h agoWed 13 Aug 2025 at 3:17am<\/p>\n What is this case about?<\/p>\n While we continue to hear evidence, here’s an explainer on Matt Wright’s<\/b> criminal case.<\/p>\n The celebrity crocodile wrangler is facing three counts of attempting to pervert the course of justice, in relation to the aftermath of a fatal chopper crash in 2022.<\/p>\n The helicopter accident occurred on February 28, 2022, during a crocodile egg-collecting mission on the King River<\/b>, west of Maningrida<\/b>, in an isolated part of the Top End<\/b>.<\/p>\n The accident killed Mr Wright’s<\/b> close friend and TV co-star Chris Wilson<\/b> and seriously injured pilot Sebastian Robinson<\/b>.<\/p>\n The prosecution says the fatal chopper accident is not the subject of Matt Wright<\/b>‘s charges.<\/p>\n Instead, the charges relate to alleged events in the days and months following the crash.<\/p>\n Mr Wright <\/b>has pleaded not guilty to all three counts and a Supreme Court jury in Darwin <\/b>is listening to a second week of witness testimonies.<\/p>\n The jury is being played a secret recording of Matt Wright’s<\/b> visit to pilot Sebastian Robinson<\/b> in hospital.<\/p>\n Like with other recordings played previously, jurors have been given a transcript to follow along and without it, it’s difficult to make out the details.<\/p>\n After listening to the recording, Mr Robinson<\/b> says he can identify Mr Wright<\/b> speaking with another man on the telephone as well as his own voice.<\/p>\n 6h agoWed 13 Aug 2025 at 2:52amPilot says Matt Wright went through his phone ‘deleting things’<\/p>\n Pilot Sebastian Robinson<\/b> says Matt Wright<\/b> deleted notes and text messages from Mr Robinson’s<\/b> phone while he was in hospital after the crash.<\/p>\n “He asked to go through my phone and delete a few things,” he said.<\/p>\n “I remember looking over and seeing him holding my phone and flicking through it and deleting things.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Mr Robinson<\/b> said he also “vaguely” remembers “deleting notes out of my phone” while Mr Wright<\/b> was with him in hospital.<\/p>\n “Start and stop times for [helicopter]\u00a0IDW <\/b>for egg collection,” he said.<\/p>\n “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.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n 6h agoWed 13 Aug 2025 at 2:35am<\/p>\n A short break<\/p>\n The court is taking another short break before we reconvene for the final session before lunch.<\/p>\n 6h agoWed 13 Aug 2025 at 2:34amMatt Wright asked pilot to ‘manipulate’ flight hours, jury hears<\/p>\n Pilot Sebastian Robinson<\/b> says Matt Wright<\/b> asked him to “manipulate hours” by transferring flight time from Mr Wright’s<\/b>\u00a0crashed helicopter to Mr Robinson’s<\/b> aircraft while he was laid up in a Brisbane <\/b>hospital.<\/p>\n Mr Robinson<\/b> says Mr Wright<\/b> visited him in the days after the helicopter crash that killed Chris Wilson<\/b> and left Mr Robinson<\/b> a paraplegic.<\/p>\n “He asked me if I would consider putting any of his hours from his helicopter onto my helicopter,” he said.<\/p>\n “He asked if he could put hours from [the crashed helicopter] IDW <\/b>to my aircraft ZXZ<\/b>.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Mr Robinson<\/b> says he can’t remember exactly how many hours Mr Wright<\/b> wanted transferred “because I’m a bit fuzzy”.<\/p>\n “But he said not that many, a few, something along those lines,” he said.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Mr Robinson<\/b> says Mr Wright<\/b> had asked him to say the transferred hours were taken up with crocodile egg collecting, even though his helicopter was not set up to do so.<\/p>\n “ZXZ <\/b>was not fitted with dual hooks to sling people,” he said.<\/p>\n “It was not used for the purpose of human external cargo and was not fitted with the equipment to do so.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Crown prosecutor Jason Gullaci SC<\/b> asked Mr Robinson<\/b> what he understood Mr Wright<\/b> was asking him to do.<\/p>\n “Manipulate hours on my aircraft,” Mr Robinson<\/b> said.<\/p>\n “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.<\/p>\n “I remember something along the lines of him saying, ‘Just have a think about it and I’ll come back and see you tomorrow.'”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n When Mr Wright<\/b> returned to the hospital two days later, Mr Robinson<\/b> says he told him he “didn’t feel comfortable doing it”.<\/p>\n “I don’t think he was upset, from the way I remember it he sort of said, ‘That’s OK’,” he said.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n 7h agoWed 13 Aug 2025 at 2:16amMatt Wright ‘left two specific documents’ at the hospital<\/p>\n Helicopter pilot Sebastian Robinson<\/b>\u00a0says he remembers Matt Wright<\/b> visiting him in hospital in Brisbane <\/b>with his wife, Kaia Wright<\/b>.<\/p>\n Mr Robinson<\/b> says he doesn’t remember any general chit chat but that Mr Wright<\/b> had some documents with him.<\/p>\n “I remember laying in the bed looking down at an arrangement of documents all across in front of me,” he said.<\/p>\n “Who was holding them when Mr Wright<\/b> entered the room?” prosecutor Jason Gullaci SC<\/b> asked.<\/p>\n “I believe he was,” Mr Robinson<\/b>\u00a0replied.<\/p>\n “Ultimately, were two specific documents left in the hospital after his visit?<\/p>\n “Yes.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Mr Robinson<\/b> says his mother,\u00a0Noelene Chellingworth<\/b>, then took a photograph of those documents.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"1h agoWed 13 Aug 2025 at 7:46am A recap of today’s evidence Jurors in the criminal trial of…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":142030,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[84512,4740,84507,84504,84508,84511,25175,75302,84513,84509,84505,77092,50,13263,84510,81999,278,84506,15159],"class_list":{"0":"post-142029","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news","8":"tag-attempt-to-pervert-the-course-of-justice","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-celebrity-croc-wrangler","11":"tag-court-jury","12":"tag-croc-wrangler","13":"tag-darwin-court","14":"tag-evidence","15":"tag-matt-wright","16":"tag-matt-wright-croc-wrangler","17":"tag-matt-wright-in-court","18":"tag-matt-wright-trial","19":"tag-netflix-star","20":"tag-news","21":"tag-nt","22":"tag-nt-court","23":"tag-sebastian-robinson","24":"tag-supreme-court","25":"tag-tv-star","26":"tag-witness"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115020760975266361","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/142029","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=142029"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/142029\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/142030"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=142029"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=142029"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=142029"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
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The trial is being heard in the NT Supreme Court in Darwin. (ABC News: Tiffany Parker)6h agoWed 13 Aug 2025 at 2:59amCourt played secret hospital recording<\/p>\n\n
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