The Northern Territory’s supreme court has handed Outback Wrangler star Matt Wright a 10-month jail sentence for attempting to pervert the course of justice, after a 2022 helicopter crash that killed colleague Chris Wilson.
Acting Justice Alan Blow delivered the sentence in Darwin, ordering Wright to serve five months behind bars, with the remainder suspended. The 47-year-old also received a $5000 fine for lying to police.
The charges stem from a February 2022 helicopter crash in Arnhem Land that killed Wilson and left pilot Sebastian Robinson a paraplegic. Wilson had been slung beneath the aircraft on a crocodile egg-collecting run when the chopper went down in remote swampland.
A jury found Wright guilty on two counts on 29 August but failed to reach agreement on a third allegation that he’d asked a friend to “torch” the helicopter’s maintenance release.
Prosecutors accused Wright of lying to crash investigators about fuel levels, pressuring Robinson to falsify flying hours, and worrying that investigators would uncover a practice of disconnecting the helicopter’s flying-hour meters to extend operation beyond official thresholds, with falsified paperwork to match.
The prosecution did not allege that Wright caused the crash itself, Wilson’s death, or Robinson’s injuries.
Prosecutors had pushed for a custodial sentence. Wright’s defence lawyers had argued for a non-custodial outcome and have already moved to appeal the guilty verdicts.
The maximum penalty for attempting to pervert the course of justice is 15 years’ jail.
Main image: Matt Wright