Pilot’s family members accused of fabricating evidence in Wright trial

ABC NEWS (Australia)

The jury in the Supreme Court trial of Matt Wright has heard he asked the pilot who survived the fatal helicopter crash at the centre of the case to falsify flight records while he was recovering in hospital. Mr Wright has pleaded not guilty to three counts of attempting to pervert the course of justice following the 2022 crash which killed his close friend and television co-star Chris Wilson and seriously injured the pilot. Mr Wright has denied the allegations against him.

Transcript

00:00First, the older brother, then the mother, those closest to pilot Sebastian Robinson

00:08taking the stand in the trial of Matt Wright.

00:11Zachary Chellingworth today told the court he remembers Mr Wright visiting his little

00:16brother in hospital days after he survived the 2022 helicopter crash.

00:21He said during that visit, Mr Wright asked his brother to falsify helicopter flight records

00:26but said he never saw Mr Wright touching or deleting things from Mr Robinson's mobile phone.

00:32Mr Chellingworth said he was aware investigators were examining whether the crashed helicopter

00:38had run out of fuel, but he denied colluding with other family members to help his brother

00:43avoid possible blame for the accident.

00:46I'm suggesting to you that that's why you and your mother and your brother manufactured

00:51these allegations against Mr Wright.

00:53You're wrong. Manufactured this allegation about him asking to transfer hours from IDW

00:58to ZXZ. It's a lie. It never happened. It's not a lie. I'm telling the truth.

01:04Under cross-examination by the defense, the witness was asked why he didn't intervene more

01:09forcefully to stop Mr Wright allegedly pressuring his little brother. Zach Chellingworth told the

01:14court it was very tense and emotional in the hospital room and it was hard to gather his thoughts.

01:20It was extremely tense and emotional because Mr Wright was expressing his concern for the

01:24welfare of your brother. No, he wasn't. He was trying to help your brother, wasn't he? No. He was

01:31trying to help your brother clean up the mess he left behind. No.

01:35Mr Chellingworth told the court he was aware of his little brother's occasional use of cocaine. He said the

01:42only time he'd seen his brother use the drug was at his Bucks party on a boat owned by Mr Wright. He

01:49said he wasn't aware of Mr Wright's zero tolerance drug policy. Mr Robinson's mother, Nolene Chellingworth,

01:56took the stand this afternoon telling the court she too witnessed Matt Wright asking her son to falsify

02:02his helicopter flying hours. A family still coming to terms with tragedy forced to relive every moment.

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