Outback Wrangler’s new move over fatal chopper crash

The barrister for Outback Wrangler star Matt Wright has made a legal request for the charges over the helicopter accident that killed the TV adventurer’s close mate to not be moved to a higher court.

Prosecutor Nicholas Goodfellow told Darwin Local Court on Monday that Wright’s legal team, headed by Giles O’Brien-Hartcher, indicated they wanted the case to remain in the Local Court, the NT News reported.

‘There’s been an indication from my learned friend that perhaps the matter could remain in the summary jurisdiction,’ Mr Goodfellow said. 

Mr Goodfellow said that would be considered but the case was ‘heading down the committal stream’  which would require it being moved to a higher court.

That development could mean the trial will be decided by a jury instead of a judge alone.  

Wright and his business Helibrook Pty Ltd have each been charged with two counts of reckless conduct for allegedly breaching the Northern Territory’s work health and safety laws. 

The charges came after the death of Wright’s friend Chris Wilson on February 28, 2022, when he was hanging from a helicopter while collecting crocodile eggs in the NT’s Arnhem Land. 

Wright’s company owned the helicopter that was being used in the egg collecting mission when Mr Wilson was killed.

Mr Wilson, 34, had been dangling from a sling 30metres under the chopper to collect the eggs and was killed in the crash, while pilot Sebastian Robinson was left with paralysing spinal injuries. 

Mr Wright’s barrister Mr O’Brien-Hartcher asked that in the absence of a definite answer from WorkSafe – which is prosecuting the case – it should stay in the directions hearing list rather than the preliminary examination mention (PEM) stream.

‘My one reluctance would be that if it ends up in the PEM stream sometimes it’s difficult to get it back into this stream and I wouldn’t want that to be the case,’ he said.

‘Sometimes things gain a particular momentum of their own.’

But Chief Judge Elizabeth Morris said if Mr Goodfellow is ‘not consenting to jurisdiction I have to start the committal process’.

‘The prosecution gets the call on that, so if they say (they’re) declining there’s nothing the defendant or the court can do about it.

‘We’re in control of our papers, our papers are not in control of us Mr O’Brien-Hartcher.’

Wright and Helibrook were hit with the charges by NT WorkSafe in February ‘over their failures to maintain safe aircraft and allowing the aircraft to be operated when unsafe’.

A NT WorkSafe spokesperson said at the time an investigation ‘found sufficient evidence to allege Helibrook Pty Ltd and Wright engaged in conduct intended to falsify the actual number of flight hours accrued by the aircraft in the Helibrook fleet over an extended period of time’.

‘This … impacted the regular inspection and replacement of the aircraft’s life-limited components … therefore it is alleged placing at risk the health and safety of the pilots and passengers,’ the spokesperson said.

The case returns to court on August 28. 

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