Outback Wrangler star Matt Wright’s lawyer has filed a legal request to have charges over the helicopter crash that killed the TV adventurer’s close friend not moved to a higher court.
Prosecutor Nicholas Goodfellow told Darwin Local Court on Monday that Wright’s legal team, led by Giles O’Brien-Hartcher, had indicated they wanted the case to remain in Darwin Local Court. NT News reported.
“My learned friend has indicated to me that perhaps the matter could remain in summary jurisdiction,” Goodfellow said.
Mr Goodfellow said that would be considered, but the case was “heading towards the judicial route”, which would require moving it to a higher court.
That development could mean the trial will be decided by a jury rather than a single judge.
Wright and his company Helibrook Pty Ltd have each been charged with two counts of reckless conduct for allegedly breaching Northern Territory workplace health and safety laws.
The charges follow the death of Wright’s friend Chris Wilson on February 28, 2022, while he was hanging from a helicopter while collecting crocodile eggs in Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory.
Wright’s company owned the helicopter that was being used on the egg-collecting mission when Mr. Wilson was killed.
Outback Wrangler star Matt Wright (right) is photographed with his wife, Instagram influencer Kaia
Mr Wilson, 34, was hanging from a sling 30 metres below the helicopter to collect the eggs and died in the crash, while pilot Sebastian Robinson suffered paralysing spinal injuries.
Mr Wright’s solicitor, Mr O’Brien-Hartcher, requested that in the absence of a definitive response from WorkSafe (which is conducting the case), it should remain on the directions hearing list rather than the preliminary examination mention (PEM) stream.
“My only reservation would be that if it ends up in the PEM stream, it’s sometimes difficult to get it back into that stream and I wouldn’t want that to be the case,” he said.
“Sometimes things just take on a momentum of their own.”
But Chief Judge Elizabeth Morris said that if Mr. Goodfellow “does not consent to jurisdiction, I have to begin the commitment process.”
‘The prosecution gets the call about it, so if they say they refuse, there’s nothing the defendant or the court can do about it.
“We control our roles, our roles do not control us, Mr. O’Brien-Hartcher.”
Chris Wilson (pictured right) died in the helicopter crash, while pilot Sebastian Robinson (left) was left paraplegic.
Chris Wilson was collecting crocodile eggs while suspended from a Robinson R44 helicopter known as VH-IDW when it crashed to the ground in the NT.
Wright and Helibrook were charged by NT WorkSafe in February “for failing to maintain the safety of aircraft and allowing them to operate when they were unsafe”.
An NT WorkSafe spokesperson said at the time that an investigation “found sufficient evidence to allege that Helibrook Pty Ltd and Wright engaged in conduct intended to falsify the actual number of flight hours accumulated by aircraft in Helibrook’s fleet over an extended period of time”.
“This… affected the regular inspection and replacement of the aircraft’s limited-life components… therefore, it is alleged to put the health and safety of pilots and passengers at risk,” the spokesman said.
The case returns to court on August 28.
