Outback Wrangler Matt Wright has learned his fate during sentencing in the Northern Territory Supreme Court

Fallen reality television star Matt Wright will spend tonight behind bars after being sentenced in the Northern Territory Supreme Court today for obstructing investigations into a fatal chopper crash.

The Outback Wrangler host was found guilty in August on two counts of attempting to pervert the course of justice following the helicopter crash that killed his Netflix co-star Chris Wilson in 2022.

Each count carries a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison.

NT Police charged Wright in November 2022 and he has been on bail ever since.

The Top End tourism operator arrived at court on Friday morning with his legal team, wife Kaia and the couple’s friends.

On Friday afternoon, following hours of oral submissions from the crown and defence, Acting Justice Alan Blow sentenced Wright to five months in prison.

Justice Blow, beaming into Darwin from Tasmania via an audio-visual link, sentenced Wright to a head sentence of 10 months, suspended after five months.

“On count one, you’re convicted and fined $5000,” he said.

“On count two, you’re convicted and sentenced to imprisonment for 10 months.

“I order that the sentence be suspended after you have served five months thereof.”

Justice Blow said Wright’s lies to police, in relation to how much fuel was in the destroyed chopper’s tank, were “spontaneous and unplanned”.

“In my view, although your answers to the police about the state of the fuel were dishonest, they were consistent with the truth,” he said.

“I believe that the true situation was that there was fuel in the tank when the helicopter’s engine stopped.

“Most of it may very well have drained away by the time you looked in the fuel tank, if that is what you did.

“I accept the tendency of your conduct in the police interview to pervert any investigation was not strong.”

Justice Blow said count two, pressuring pilot Sebastian Robinson to falsify flight records from his hospital bed, was a “much more serious charge” and involved planning.

“That was a serious attempt to pervert the course of justice,” he said.

“It’s significant that you had the callousness to make and pursue this request when Mr Robinson had recently come out of a coma and had just learned that he was unlikely ever to walk again.

“It was the worst possible time to put any pressure on him. He was heavily medicated and very vulnerable.”

Justice Blow said there was a need for general deterrence.

“I don’t see any significant need for personal deterrence,” he said.

“It’s true that you’ve shown no remorse, but I think you’re very unlikely to reoffend in any significant way in the future.”

Wright pleaded not guilty to three counts of attempting to pervert the course of justice when his trial commenced in July.

The charges related to his actions in the seven months after the chopper crash that killed Wilson and left pilot Sebastian Robinson paraplegic.

The 46-year-old was accused of lying to police about how much fuel was in the helicopter’s tank at the crash site, pressuring the critically injured pilot to falsify flight records from his hospital bed and telling a mate to “torch” the destroyed aircraft’s maintenance release after authorities had demanded Wright surrender the document.

After hearing 13 days of evidence, the jury found Wright guilty of the first two charges and, after reaching a deadlock, were discharged on the third count in relation to the aircraft’s missing maintenance release.

Following the verdicts, the prosecution and defence made written sentencing submissions to Justice Blow and on Friday, both parties made oral submissions in court.

Prosecutor Jason Gullaci SC said the crown’s “ultimate submission” was that Wright should serve “a term of actual, immediate imprisonment” to reflect the seriousness of his offending.

“Counts one and two concern attempts by Mr Wright to obstruct and to impede the investigation into a helicopter crash which killed Christopher Wilson and seriously injured Sebastian Robinson,” he said.

“Wright intended these actions to prevent charges being laid against him or his companies in relation to the crash itself.

“He wanted to avoid any prospect of being prosecuted on the basis that his conduct had caused the helicopter to crash.”

Mr Gullaci said Wright’s concern was that the “systemic under-recording of flight hours, which was the conduct he engaged in prior to the crash, would be found by investigators to have caused the helicopter to crash”.

“The helicopter that was involved in the crash, IDW, had done more than 2200 hours being the trigger at which a major overhaul should have occurred, costing upwards of a half a million dollars, or it should have been retired,” he said.

Mr Gullaci said Wright had demonstrated “an absence of remorse or contrition and an absence, in my submission, of any insight”.

Mr Wright’s lawyer Luke Officer said his client should not be sentenced for “whatever regulatory CASA or ATSB offenses” he had committed.

“He is not to be sentenced because he is Matt Wright,” he said.

“He is not to be sentenced because of his celebrity status.

“The defence maintains that the responsibility in relation to this particular accident falls at the feet of Sebastian Robinson.”

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

Wilson, 34, was slinging on a 100-foot line beneath the chopper when it lost power.

Mr Robinson told the court he released Wilson’s sling line from the chopper to avoid “rag-dolling” him through the trees and landing on top of him.

Mr Officer argued a wholly suspended sentence or an intensive community corrections order with home detention would be the appropriate punishment.

The Darwin-based lawyer said his client is of good character and has “excellent” prospects of rehabilitation.

“These proceedings have been financially devastating for him,” he said.

“He is just making ends meet, by the skin of his teeth, through his tourism operations.

“He is teetering on the edge of financial ruin.”

The court heard Wright’s lucrative income streams – including sponsorship deals and crocodile egg collecting contracts – had become “trickles” since the crash.

“He’s not going to rebuild, your honour, if he’s sitting in a cell,” Mr Officer said.

“And again, he’s not a danger to the community.

“This is a sentence that the community could expect.”

Mr Officer read out a number of character references from friends including country music star Lee Kernaghan and Wright’s talent agent Nick Fordham.

Wright plans to appeal his guilty verdicts but a valid application has not yet been filed.

Wright’s third charge – on which the jury was “hopelessly deadlocked” – remains under consideration by the NT’s director of public prosecutions, who will decide whether to retry the charge after Wright’s appeal is resolved.

Meanwhile Wilson’s widow Danielle – who was not in court on Friday – is suing Wright, his insolvent company Helibrook and the Civil Aviation Safety Authority in the federal court over her husband’s death.

Wright will spend tonight in custody at the Darwin Correctional Centre.