Outback Wrangler Matt Wright and his mates ‘thick as thieves’ before fatal crash tore ‘unshakable bonds’ apart

The crown prosecutor in Outback Wrangler Matt Wright’s criminal trial has told the jury, in his closing address, that the chopper involved in a fatal crash that led to his charges did not run out of fuel before it “fell from the sky”.

After three weeks of evidence, Jason Gullaci SC began summing up the crown case on Tuesday afternoon, saying that two big “furphies” put forward during the trial related to pilot Sebastian Robinson’s alleged cocaine use and the cause of the crash.

“While I’ve said to you the cause of the accident is not part of the charges, a lot of evidence put by the defence goes to that, dances up to the line about it,” he said.

“IDW did not crash due to fuel exhaustion.

“There is no evidence that this helicopter crashed because it hadn’t been properly refuelled.

“This idea that it ran out of fuel and fell out of the sky is a credit attack on Sebastian Robinson.”

Mr Wright is fighting three charges of perverting the course of justice in the Northern Territory Supreme Court.

His charges stem from the investigation into the fatal chopper crash that killed Chris Wilson and left Mr Robinson paraplegic.

Mr Robinson, 32, was flying a helicopter owned and operated by Mr Wright’s company Helibrook when it crashed during a crocodile egg collecting mission at West Arnhem Land in February 2022.

The Robinson R44 was registered VH-IDW.

Mr Gullaci said that on February 28 that year “two young men flew out of Noonamah early that morning to collect crocodile eggs”.

“It is dangerous and risky work but it’s exciting,” he said.

“For those more boring people amongst us, me included, it captures the imagination and sense of adventure.

“Mr Robinson and Mr Wilson were fit, healthy and in their physical and mental prime.

“They were in the prime of their lives with unlimited potential.”

Mr Gullaci said that fateful day was supposed to be the last egg collecting mission of that wet season.

“That’s the real tragedy here,” he said.

“Those two men set out that morning thinking it would be the last day of their egg collecting season.

“They had no reason to the doubt that the next day they’d be back home with their family and loved ones.

“Mr Wilson lost his life that day.”

He said Mr Robinson, his partner Rhani Lee and their families now deal with his serious injuries on a “daily basis”.

Wilson’s widow Danielle was in court on Tuesday.

The single mum sat silently in the front row of the courtroom with tears streaming down her face as the prosecutor recounted the day of the horror crash and its consequences.

Mr Wright, who was sitting in the dock, occasionally looked at the prosecutor as he outlined the crown case. On a few occasions, he leaned his head against the wall and closed his eyes.

Mr Gullaci said Mr Wright, on the day of the accident, must have been aware there would be an investigation into the crash and that either himself, his company or Mr Robinson could be charged.

The crown alleges the 45-year-old was trying to prevent charges being laid by “deflecting, interfering and obstructing” investigations.

“We say he engaged in conduct that had that tendency to cause the investigation to go nowhere and no charges be laid,” the prosecutor said.

“And that was his intention because of the motive he had to avoid other things being opened up.”

Mr Gullaci alleges Mr Wright’s motivation was to prevent investigators from discovering he had not been recording VH-IDW’s flight hours correctly and that the aircraft was no longer airworthy.

“If it shouldn’t have been in the air and they find something wrong with it, I might get blamed for the crash, and that’s a very real fear (Mr Wright) had within 10 days of the accident,” he said.

But he also cautioned the jury that Mr Wright’s charges do not relate to the cause of the crash.

Mr Gullaci reminded the jury of secretly recorded conversations in which “Mr Wright tries to blame the cause of the crash solely at the feet of Mr Robinson.”

“In those parts of the conversations, maybe he was just venting,” he said.

“I don’t want you to tip into the suggestion that what he says (in those conversations) is actually correct.”

He asked the jury to think about what confronted Mr Robinson “as that helicopter fell out of the sky”.

“How much time might he have had to make calm and rational decisions?” he asked.

“And whether he could have actually moved the helicopter because if it had stopped operating you can’t fly it out of the way to save your own arse.

“I don’t want you to act inappropriately on the assertions of Mr Wright about what might have caused the helicopter crash.

“He wasn’t there and has no idea what confronted Mr Robinson, none, because until you’ve been in that position, how would you know?”

Mr Gullaci said releasing Mr Wilson from the sling beneath the chopper might have been the pilot’s only option.

“If the chopper fell out of the sky, you can play with the (controls) all you like but what could you do?” he asked.

“If you’ve got no power, what can you really achieve? Can you lower someone safety to the ground and move across?

“You’ve seen how high those trees are.

“Punching him off might have been the only option

“The helicopter falling on top of him isn’t going to be much of a better option.”

What we’ve seen play out in this courtroom is a group of men and their partners who were very close. They’ve been fractured and torn apart.

Mr Gullaci said Mr Robinson “was no angel” but he was only an occasional recreational cocaine user and “it was not once suggested he was the drug baron of NT”.

“Just because Mr Robinson, as a young man, occasionally – over a five year period – used drugs. Yes it’s illegal but it happens,” he said.

“You don’t throw out all of Sebastian Robinson’s evidence because he occasionally used cocaine.”

He said the defence team had launched a “scorched earth attack” on the paraplegic pilot and attempted “to make Mr Robinson public enemy number one”.

“The bottom line … defence have launched a massive full frontal credit attack on Sebastian Robinson,” he said,

“They’ve thrown everything at him but the kitchen sink.”

The prosecutor said he understands the defence’s approach because “we’re not playing for sheep stations here”.

“The stakes are pretty high,” he said.

“You throw every punch you’ve got at him and my submission to you is … at the end of it all, Mr Robinson was still standing.

“He stood up, he weathered the cross examination, he might have been rocked a few times, but he was still upright and on his feet at the end of it.

“You might also think that amongst some of the more colourful characters in this case he was the only witness to concede when he told a lie or gave untrue accounts or evidence.

“At least he’s been prepared to own them, unlike (Jai) Tomlinson or (Tim) Johnston.”

The prosecutor said that despite the attacks, “Mr Robinson nonetheless … is a critical witness in this case”.

“He gives you context of what was going on when people flew helicopters for Mr Wright,” he said.

“He’s not the only evidence that supports charge two.

“It’s all very well to towel up a witness, but there might actually be other evidence that supports the account that’s being given like the (Jim) Carew recording, the documents that were taken to the hospital, the photograph of the ZXZ Maintenance Release sent on March 3.”

The court also heard how the fatal chopper crash had ruined relationships, lives and livelihoods.

Mr Gullaci told the jury that the croc-wrangler and his mates had been “as thick as thieves” before the accident, which had impacted everyone connected to it.

“What we’ve seen play out in this courtroom is a group of men and their partners who were very close,” he said.

“Probably thought they had unbreakable bonds.

“They’ve been fractured and torn apart.”

Mr Gullaci asked the jurors to leave their “emotions and prejudices” at the door when they begin the “intellectual task” of deliberating on Thursday.

“You will have emotional reactions to this and potentially strong views,” he said.

“But what you need to do as judges is act like judges and park those feelings.

“Wherever those feelings might lead you…You must act dispassionately.”

The Melbourne-based barrister, who was brought up to the Territory at short notice to prosecute this matter, said there has been “saturation media coverage of this case”.

“Whatever you know external to this courtroom goes straight in the bin,” he said.

“With the greatest respect to Johnny or Jill, no one cares (what they think).

“With no disrespect to Mr Wright, no one cares if he’s a celebrity. No one cares if he’s been on Netflix … or Instagram.

“Mr Wright is innocent until proven guilty. Mr Wright and the defence team have nothing to prove.”

He said the three charges have been “run together for convenience” but the jury is not facing an “all of nothing scenario”, meaning that Mr Wright could be found guilty of one charge, but not the others, and vice versa.

“Mr Gullaci told the jury that a “criminal trial is not a search for the truth”.

“That’s not what it is,” he said.

“The prosecution brings a charge or charges and the assessment you have to make is, has the prosecution proved those charges beyond reasonable doubt?

“We have to prove the facts that support the charges beyond reasonable doubt.”

Mr Gullaci will continue his speech on Wednesday before the defence delivers its closing address.

Acting Justice Alan Blow is expected to provide his directions to the jury on Thursday morning before they are sent out to deliberate their verdicts.