Television crocodile wrangler Matt Wright has been found guilty on two charges of attempting to pervert the course of justice, following the 2022 helicopter crash in Arnhem Land that killed his co-star Chris ‘Willow’ Wilson and left pilot Sebastian Robinson paralysed.
The Outback Wrangler star faced three counts in the Northern Territory Supreme Court but was only convicted on two.
He could face jail time.
Matt Wright
Guilty verdicts delivered
The jury found Wright guilty of lying to police about fuel levels and asking Robinson to falsify flight records.
A third charge – alleging Wright encouraged someone to destroy the helicopter’s maintenance records – was left unresolved, with the jury unable to reach a verdict.
Wright was granted bail shortly after the decision was handed down on Friday afternoon.
Testimony from the pilot
Much of the trial hinged on Robinson’s evidence.
He told the court that while recovering from a coma, Wright and his wife visited him in hospital and asked him to change flight logs.
“I remember looking over and seeing him holding my phone and flicking through it and deleting things,” Robinson said.
He admitted to poor record-keeping practices himself, but said they were common in the Territory’s helicopter industry. “Everyone looked at Matt as an idol,” he added. “He’d say ‘jump’ and they’d say ‘how high?’”
Families and police respond
Outside court, Danielle Wilson, widow of Chris Wilson, said the verdict represented “an important moment in a long and painful journey.”
She noted her family was preparing for their fourth Father’s Day without him: “Once again, there will be an empty seat at the table, a constant reminder of all that has been taken from us.”
NT Police Detective Senior Sergeant Corey Borton praised the jury’s work and the three-year investigation. “My investigation team has spent three years on this job and got the result that we did. It’s a matter for appeal now. So [there’s] not a lot more I can say.”
A battle over credibility
The defence sought to shift blame toward Robinson, painting him as an unreliable witness who ignored warnings and partied heavily.
Senior counsel David Edwardson told the jury: “Matt Wright has gone from the face of Darwin tourism, to now sitting in the dock with his fate in your hands.”
Judge allows bail
Despite the seriousness of the offences, Acting Justice Alan Blow granted bail, noting the likelihood of an appeal. “It would ordinarily be my practice to remand in custody at this stage on an offence of this seriousness … but this is a different situation,” he told the court.
At 46, Wright was not accused of causing the crash itself, but of attempting to interfere with the investigation that followed. The case now moves into its next phase, with the prospect of an appeal on the horizon.