Reality television star Matt Wright has been sentenced to 10 months in prison for attempting to pervert the course of justice after a fatal helicopter crash in 2022. The 47-year-old star of 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 Wright's co-star Chris 'Willow' Wilson and left pilot Sebastian Robinson a paraplegic. Wright was found guilty by a jury 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. The jury could not reach a verdict on a third charge of asking a friend to burn 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, after which it should have been retired or undergone costly overhaul. The judge described Wright's attempt to pressure Robinson, who had just emerged from a coma and learned he might never walk again, as 'callous'.
Wright's sentence was suspended after five months, with a two-year good behaviour period and a $5,000 fine for lying to police. His defence lawyers are pursuing an appeal against the guilty verdicts. The judge acknowledged Wright's contributions to the community through tourism ventures and charity work, but noted the adverse publicity had brought some of his businesses to the brink of failure.
