Outback Wrangler Matt Wright, pilot Michael Keith Burbidge and ex-cop Neil Mellon to contest Supreme Court committal

Prosecutors are preparing an ‘enormous volume of evidence’ in the case against Outback Wrangler Matt Wright over an alleged chopper crash conspiracy.

Helicopter pilot Michael Burbidge, former police officer Neil Mellon, and Outback Wrangler star Matt Wright are due to face a committal hearing in December.

A criminal investigation into a celebrity chopper crash is being weighed down by the “sheer volume” of evidence, a court has heard.

Netflix star Matt Wright, alongside his co-accused Remote Helicopters Australia owner Michael Keith Burbidge and former top cop Neil Mellon, are expected to face a two-day committal hearing in December.

The men are accused of conspiring to tamper with evidence following a chopper crash which killed Chris ‘Willow’ Wilson in West Arnhem Land on February 28, 2022.

On Tuesday Darwin Local Court heard all three men would argue there was insufficient proof to send the case to the Supreme Court in the December hearing.

Netflix star Matt Wright and his co-accused Remote Helicopters Australia owner Michael Keith Burbidge are expected to fight moves to send their case to the Supreme Court.

Prosecutor Steve Ledek said while there was a lot of evidence being presented against Mellon and Burbidge, “the brief for Mr Wright is far more voluminous”.

Mr Ledek said up to a 28-volume brief of evidence was expected to be presented as part of the Crown case against the Netflix star.

He said a single search warrant for 28-year-old chopper pilot Sebastian Robinson’s phone alone had produced 150,000 texts.

“I don’t know how he had time to fly a helicopter with that many texts,” Wright’s lawyer Giles O'Brien-Hartcher said.

“You would be surprised,” Judge Tanya Fong Lim replied.

Mr Robinson, who was piloting the helicopter as it went down over a paperbark swamp, has not been accused of any wrongdoing.

The Crown said a single search warrant for 28-year-old chopper pilot Sebastian Robinson’s phone alone had produced 150,000 texts. Picture: Instagram

Mr Ledek said the plan had always been to share the two volume brief against Wright to his two co-accused, and they had handed over most of the requested documents.

However he acknowledged there had been some issues with accessing the online portal particularly as the extensive collection of evidence was not clearly numbered.

Judge Fong Lim said since there were no witnesses to be called or cross examination expected in the December hearing, it was “unclear” what was expected for the two days.

But all legal teams agreed that given the scale of the brief, the hearing was needed to go through the documents.

Mr Ledek said up to 28 volumes of evidence were expected to be presented as part of the crown case against the Netflix star, Matt Wright.

“(There’s an) enormous volume of evidence, and there’s still more coming,” Mr O’Brien-Hartcher said.

Ms Fong Lim ordered the brief and requested evidence to be handed over to the trio’s legal teams to minimise the risk of the complex hearing being delayed.

Burbidge’s lawyer Clancy Dane also made an unopposed bail variation to allow his client to contact Wright’s wife Kaia or the celebrity’s operations manager Tim Johnston or fellow helicopter pilot Jock Purcell.

A second case management inquiry has been set for September 18, with the committal hearing to begin on December 7.

Originally published as Outback Wrangler Matt Wright, pilot Michael Keith Burbidge and ex-cop Neil Mellon to contest Supreme Court committal