In short:
Neil Mellon has been sentenced to eight months in prison, to be suspended after three, for a string of offences including destruction of evidence.
The destruction of evidence charge relates to a helicopter crash that killed Netflix star Chris “Willow” Wilson in remote West Arnhem Land in February 2022.
Mellon’s charges also included a string of unrelated offences, including disclosing confidential information and obtaining benefit by deception.
Former Northern Territory senior police officer Neil Mellon has been sentenced to eight months behind bars after pleading guilty to a string of offences, including destroying evidence related to a 2022 helicopter crash that killed Netflix star Chris ‘Willow’ Wilson.
Mellon previously pleaded guilty in the Darwin Local Court to more than a dozen charges, including destroying evidence, obtaining a benefit by deception and six counts of disclosing confidential information.
The destruction of evidence charge was related to the disposal of the mobile phone that belonged to Mr Wilson, who died when the Robinson R44 helicopter he was travelling in crashed during a saltwater crocodile egg-collecting mission in West Arnhem Land in February 2022.
The other charges were for a series of unrelated offences over the course of several months in 2022.
The court on Tuesday heard that Mellon, who was a senior sergeant at the time, had attended the scene of the crash on February 28, 2022 alongside his co-accused Matt Wright and bush pilot Michal Burbidge.
The court heard Mellon spoke to police on the way to the crash, telling them he would “preserve” the scene.
Then, while placing Mr Wilson’s body into a body bag, Mellon removed Mr Wilson’s mobile phone from his pocket and handed it to Burbidge, who later destroyed it.
“This is not an action you would expect of a senior officer whose apparent motivation was to preserve the scene,” Darwin Local Court judge Tanya Fong Lim said during her sentencing remarks on Tuesday.
“These are not the actions of someone acting in a moment of distress at the death of his friend, they are the actions of someone being less than honest.”
Mellon’s defence lawyer Sally Ozolins told the court her client believed there was “something on his friend’s phone that might be upsetting or damaging to Mr Wilson’s widow”, which was why he had given the phone to Burbidge — who later threw it from a helicopter into the ocean.
She said Mellon had attempted to locate the phone in the weeks and months following the crash “in order for it to be provided to investigators”, unaware that it had already being destroyed.
Burbidge was previously convicted and fined $15,000 for destroying the mobile phone, though the NT Department of Public Prosecutions is attempting to appeal that sentence.
Crown prosecutor Steven Ledek argued that as a police officer, Mellon had an even higher duty than most to protect crucial evidence and uphold the integrity of the criminal justice process.
“Given the years of search-and-rescue experience the offender had, it is incongruent and unbelievable to accept that he did not value to a high degree the amount of critical information that phone might possess,” he said.
Mr Wright is expected to face trial in the NT Supreme Court on one count of perverting the course of justice.
He was not present at the time of the crash and has strenuously denied all allegations.
‘He believed he was above the law’
Mellon also admitted to committing a string of unrelated offences in the months following the crash, including multiple counts of disclosing confidential information and obtaining benefit by deception.
Judge Fong Lim would not reveal the details of the confidential information charges, however she did condemn the disclosure of information related to domestic violence matters, mental health information, and details of “high-profile” investigations.
“The defendant, as a police officer of many years, would well be aware that his disclosure have adverse consequences,” she said.
Mr Ledek described Mellon’s actions as a “blatant breach of his rules of conduct” that led to “highly personal and sensitive information” being leaked to a number of Mellon’s friends.
He also said that just before his resignation from the NT Police Force, Mellon had relied on a fellow officer to “fudge” a record of his tactical training so he could qualify to be considered for a senior sergeant promotion.
“This isn’t a once-off aberration, this seems to be a series of events where we’re talking about defying the very principles that go to the very core of the way we do justice,” Mr Ledek said.
Mr Ledek said Mellon’s actions were “unfathomable” given his extensive experience in law enforcement, and described the officer’s downfall as a “significant fall from grace”.
In her sentencing remarks, Judge Fong Lim said Mellon had “abused” his rank and position “without regard for the consequences”.
“It is my view [Mellon] has allowed the power of being a senior police officer to go to his head – he believed he was above the law,” she said.
Mellon was sentenced to eight months in prison, to be suspended after three months.
He will also have to pay more than $3,000 for a number of fines related to firearms and fireworks offences.