Crocodile wrangler Matt Wright facing 'enormous amount of evidence' in criminal case | ABC News

Celebrity crocodile wrangler Matt Wright will face an "enormous amount of evidence" in the criminal case against him, including the contents of 150,000 text messages, a Darwin court has heard.
Mr Wright, a Northern Territory tourism operator and reality TV show star, is facing a string of charges relating to the circumstances of a chopper crash which killed his friend Chris 'Willow' Wilson in 2022.
The charges against the Netflix star of Wild Croc Territory include attempting to pervert the course of justice, destruction of evidence, fabricating evidence and two counts of unlawful entry.
Mr Wright has consistently denied any wrongdoing in the matter.
In a hearing in Darwin on Tuesday, Mr Wright's lawyer Giles O'Brien-Hartcher said the brief of evidence amassed by police investigators against his client was "substantial".
Mr O'Brien-Hartcher put forward an application for disclosure of all the evidence before Mr Wright faces court to hear the case against him at a committal hearing scheduled for December.
"There's an enormous amount of evidence, and there's still more coming," Mr O'Brien-Hartcher said.
"We obviously need to know all of the evidence to properly ventilate the matter before your Honour," Mr O'Brien-Hartcher told Darwin Local Court Judge Tanya Fong Lim.
Crown prosecutor Steve Ledek said Mr Wright's team was not overstating the size of the brief.
"For the [Mr] Wright allegations, there is a considerable amount of material that will be over 26 to 28 volumes by its completion," Mr Ledek said.
"There's a large tranche of material that relates to Mr Robinson's phone, some 150,000 texts, which need some assessment in terms of disclosure, because it's not all relevant to this proceeding."
The court did not hear Mr Robinson's first name on Tuesday, but it is understood to be Sebastian Robinson, the pilot flying the helicopter that crashed resulting in Mr Wilson's death.
Mr Robinson was also badly injured in the crash.
Mr O'Brien-Hartcher later posed the question of how his client managed to send so many messages.
"I don't know how he had time to fly a helicopter if he's sending that many texts," he said.
Justice Tanya Fong Lim quipped in response: "Oh, you'd be surprised".
"The responses I get from texts are very quick nowadays," she said.
The case returns to court next month to discuss further details of the disclosure application, before heading back for a two-day hearing in December, at which Mr Wright is required to be present.
Darwin Local Court heard there wouldn't be any witnesses called at that upcoming hearing.
"No witnesses [to be cross-examined] your Honour, it's simply looking at the brief, and there's going to be, we accept, arguments suggesting some of those charges … are incapable of being substantiated by the evidence in the Crown matters," Mr Ledek said.
Following this hearing, if the charges stand, the case is likely to be headed to the NT Supreme Court.
There are two men also facing charges alongside Mr Wright in the case - fellow helicopter pilot Michael Burbidge and former high-ranking police officer Neil Mellon.
The lawyers for both men said they were waiting to see the evidence against Mr Wright before indicating exactly how they would proceed in the matter.
Mr Burbidge's lawyer also requested an amendment to his client's bail condition, to allow him to be able to be allowed to speak with three people he's currently banned from contacting: Jock Purcell, Tim, Johnston and Mr Wright's wife, Kaia Wright.
The court approved the change, on the proviso Mr Burbidge fronts court himself to sign the bail amendment by close of business on Wednesday.
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