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Famous crocodile wrangler jailed for evidence tampering
Famous crocodile wrangler jailed for evidence tampering
Celebrity crocodile wrangler Matt Wright will spend five months in prison for tampering with evidence after a helicopter crash that killed his co-star and left the pilot a paraplegic.
In August, the former Netflix star was found guilty of lying to police and pressuring a hospitalised witness after the 2022 crash in the Northern Territory (NT).
On Friday, Acting Justice Alan Blow handed Wright a 10-month prison term, which will be suspended after he has served half of it. He was also fined A$5,000 ($3,300; £2,500).
Justice Blow said Wright had "shown no remorse" but was "very unlikely to reoffend in any significant way in the future."
The maximum sentence for his charges was 15 years in prison.
The jury could not agree on a verdict for a third charge that alleged Wright asked someone to "torch" evidence.
Wright's lawyers indicated previously that they planned to appeal the guilty verdicts.
The judge pointed to mitigating factors in deciding the length of his jail term, like his contribution to the community and character references that were the "most impressive I've ever seen".
The NT Supreme Court case centred around a helicopter crash in February 2022 in Arnhem Land, about 500km (310 miles) east of Darwin.
Wright's friend and Outback Wrangler co-star Chris "Willow" Wilson - suspended from the chopper in a sling during a crocodile egg harvesting trip - was killed.
The pilot Sebastian Robinson was seriously injured, suffering punctured lungs and a severe brain injury.
Wright, who was not in the helicopter, was one of the first people to arrive at the crash site.
During the month-long trial, prosecutors told the court that Wright had lied to police about how much fuel was in the helicopter's tank when it plummeted to the ground.
The evidence included secret recordings of Wright's conversations which, the prosecution said, contradicted his claims that the fuel tank was half full when asked in police interviews.
Wright was also accused of going to the hospital bedside of Mr Robinson - who had been told by doctors he may never walk again - and asking him to change flight records that showed how many hours the aircraft had flown.
Prosecutors argued this was because Wright was worried that investigators would find out he regularly changed the official flying hours of a chopper to avoid costly maintenance.
The jury delivered unanimous verdicts for both the charges.
A third charge related to Wright asking a friend to "torch" the helicopter's maintenance record.
The jury was deadlocked on the third charge and unable to return a verdict. It remains under consideration by the courts.
The case does not relate to the cause of the crash, the death of Mr Wilson and Mr Robinson's injuries.
The trial exposed the inner workings of the NT's helicopter community with revelations that it was common practice to "pop the clock" by disconnecting a meter that records flight hours in order to delay maintenance requirements.
The prosecution argued that falsifying flight records was rampant across the industry and Wright was worried his involvement in this practice would be blamed for the crash.
Wright's defence lawyer accepted that under reporting of flight hours was "widespread throughout the NT's helicopter community," but argued Wright had not perverted the course of justice when he tried to cover up the doctored records.
During the trial, the jury heard how Wright visited Mr Robinson several times while he was in hospital.
Wright, the prosecution claimed, was there to put "the hard word" on the injured pilot, asking Mr Robinson to transfer flight hours from the crashed aircraft to another helicopter.
During cross-examination, Mr Robinson denied being a "raging cocaine junkie" after another witness - a fellow helicopter pilot - described him as a "party animal".
The court heard that a blood sample from Mr Robinson showed traces of cocaine but below the "prescribed amount for enforcement" under aviation rules, according to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC).
Mr Robinson also told the court he had no memory of the crash but conceded that he "must have intentionally disconnected" Wilson's sling as it was best practice in an emergency to release the collector. Investigators concluded that Wilson died after falling 25m to the ground.
Wright is best known globally as the star of National Geographic's Outback Wrangler and Netflix's Wild Croc Territory reality shows.
He also owns several local tourism businesses and has been a tourism ambassador for Australia.
During the trial, Mr Robinson told the court how people who worked for Wright revered him.
"Absolutely, everyone looked at Matt as an idol and if he said 'jump' they'd say 'how high'," Mr Robinson said, adding "everyone wanted to be around him, work for him".
We were young men, we looked up to him and we wanted to do our best to make ourselves look good in front of him and do whatever he said.
Before the sentencing was handed down, prosecutor Jason Gullaci SC said Wright should serve a term of "actual immediate imprisonment" to reflect the "seriousness" of his crimes.
He described Wright's repeated visits to Mr Robinson in hospital to request records be manipulated as significantly more serious than lying about the fuel as it was "considered, planned and all directed at achieving the result of obstructing the course of justice".
Wright's lawyer David Edwardson KC requested that the judge not sentence his client based on his "celebrity status" and that Wright's estimation about the chopper's fuel level was "done to protect a mate".
Source: BBC
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