Lawyers for reality TV star Matt Wright are battling to keep him out of jail as they prepare appeals against a jury’s finding he tried to pervert the course of justice after a fatal helicopter crash.
The Outback Wrangler star lost his best mate and co-star Chris “Willow” Wilson in the February 2022 crash that left pilot Sebastian Robinson a paraplegic.
The crash occurred during a crocodile-egg collecting trip in Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory while Wilson was slung on a line below a chopper to drop onto nests in remote swampland.
Luke Officer, the instructing solicitor for the defence during the trial, told AAP the appeal documents were being “finished off” and were expected to be lodged today for referral to the appeal court.
“The appeal papers will be filed, there will be an appeal hearing of some sort,” he said.
Wright was accused of lying to crash investigators about the amount of fuel in the machine, of trying to get Robinson to falsify flying hours and of asking a friend to “torch” the helicopter’s maintenance release.
On August 29, a Supreme Court jury in Darwin found Wright guilty on the first two counts but could not reach agreement on the third count regarding the “torch” claim.
Prosecutors alleged Wright was worried investigators would learn his chopper flying-hour meters were regularly disconnected to extend flying hours beyond official thresholds and paperwork was falsified to match.
The prosecution did not allege Wright caused the chopper crash, the death of Wilson or Robinson’s injuries.
During the trial, the defence targeted Robinson as a cocaine-dealing “party animal” who was to blame for the crash.
Wright has been granted bail ahead of a sentencing hearing on December 12.
Following his guilty verdicts, Wright told reporters outside court that there were “no winners” from the trial.
“The ordeal has been incredibly tough on everyone and it’s always been hard to understand why the focus of these investigations have been solely on me and not into the cause of the crash,” he said at the time.
Prosecutors have indicated they will be seeking a term of imprisonment for Wright.
The maximum penalty for attempting to pervert the course of justice is 15 years’ in jail.
The NT Court of Appeal will also separately hear legal arguments on October 7 about a question of law stemming from a “no case submission” raised by Wright’s defence during the trial.
Defence barrister David Edwardson KC argued before the judge, but not before the jury, that the charges his client faced were “a catch-all, or an offence of last resort” and shouldn’t have been brought.
Acting Justice Alan Blow ruled for the prosecution, concluding there was a case to answer on all three counts.
Wilson’s widow Dani is pursuing a civil case against Wright and the Civil Aviation Safety Authority over the crash that killed her husband.
NT Police have also indicated they will be seeking court costs from Wright.
