Ex-cop Neil Mellon pleads guilty to weapons, dishonesty charges after crash that killed Chris Wilson

A disgraced former NT Police officer has pleaded guilty to a fresh string of charges after earlier pleading guilty to destroying evidence following a fatal helicopter crash.

Former NT Police senior sergeant Neil Mellon (centre) arrives at court with supporters on Tuesday. Picture: Jason Walls

Disgraced former NT Police officer Neil Mellon has pleaded guilty to a fresh string of charges after earlier pleading guilty to destroying evidence following a fatal helicopter crash.

The former senior sergeant and long-serving Territory Response Group member pleaded guilty in the Darwin Local Court on Tuesday to a string of weapons and dishonesty offences.

The charges include six counts of disclosing confidential information, three counts of possessing a prohibited weapon and one count each of obtaining benefit by deception and possessing a protected animal.

It comes after he also pleaded guilty in December to destroying a phone in the aftermath of the crash that killed Netflix star Chris “Willow” Wilson in February 2022.

Through his plea, Mellon agreed he knew the phone might be required in a court proceeding and destroyed it so it could not be used in evidence.

Further details of the earlier plea were suppressed from publication at the request of prosecutors after Mellon’s co-accused, Matt Wright, was committed to stand trial in the Supreme Court.

But despite no application being made by either party on Tuesday, Judge Tanya Fong Lim declared she would not release the facts of the latest pleas, which are understood to be unrelated.

However, prosecutor Steve Ledek told the court there was “quite obviously sensitive information that was disclosed and there are victims in each case”, some of whom “were aware that their information was traded away”.

The details of all Neil Mellon’s (centre) crimes will remain obscured from the public until at least his next court appearance in June. Picture: Jason Walls

Mr Ledek said some of Mellon’s victims were “considering their position with respect to a victim impact statement”.

“But of course there’s that concern that putting themselves forward identifies who or what was the subject of that disclosure,” he said.

“So I have given it some thought as to the legality around that information being provided and it being kept, necessarily, from any other parties that may want to hear what they’ve had to say.

“So I’ve just got to resolve that position as well, your honour, but it should be information that you have and my learned friend has as well because these are not victimless offences.”

Mellon’s barrister Sally Ozlins said she had obtained a psychological report since his last court appearance but it needed to be updated “with finalisation of a second potentially serious matter as recently as last week”.

“We have sought at least one report, a psychological report, which should be revised in light of the additional circumstances and facts to be taken into account,” she said.

Last month Remote Helicopters Australia owner Michael Burbidge also pleaded guilty to destroying evidence following the fatal chopper crash, with the court hearing he threw Mr Wilson’s phone overboard to protect his wife from seeing its contents.

Mellon will return to court for sentencing on June 7.