Reality television star Matt Wright has been sentenced to 10 months in jail for attempting to pervert the course of justice following a fatal helicopter crash in 2022. The 47-year-old, known for the show 'Outback Wrangler', was sentenced by Acting Justice Alan Blow at the Supreme Court in Darwin on Friday.
The crash, which occurred during a crocodile-egg collecting trip in Arnhem Land, killed his co-star Chris 'Willow' Wilson and left pilot Sebastian Robinson a paraplegic. Wright was found guilty on 29 August of lying to crash investigators about the amount of fuel in the helicopter and attempting to get Robinson to falsify flying hours. A jury could not reach a verdict on a third charge of asking a friend to 'torch' the helicopter's maintenance release.
Justice Blow noted that Wright had reason to fear an investigation might reveal the helicopter had exceeded its maximum flight time of 2,200 hours, meaning it should have been retired or undergone a costly overhaul. The judge described Wright's attempt to pressure Robinson, who had recently emerged from a coma and learned he might never walk again, as 'callous'.
Wright's sentence was suspended after he serves five months, with a two-year good behaviour period. He was also fined $5,000 for lying to police. The maximum penalty for attempting to pervert the course of justice is 15 years' imprisonment. Wright's defence lawyers are pursuing an appeal against his guilty verdicts.
