A pilot who was seriously injured in a deadly helicopter crash has admitted using cocaine, but has denied ever flying helicopters for reality TV star Matt Wright while high.
Sebastian Robinson was left a paraplegic after the February 2022 crash that killed Outback Wrangler co-star Chris “Willow” Wilson in Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory.
Robinson is giving evidence in the Supreme Court in Darwin at the trial of Wright, who has pleaded not guilty to three counts of attempting to pervert the course of justice.
Prosecutors allege the TV star was worried crash investigators would discover flight-time meters were disconnected regularly to extend flying hours beyond official thresholds and paperwork was falsified.
Wilson fell to the ground from a sling beneath the chopper while collecting crocodile eggs in remote swampland.
The aircraft then crashed, seriously injuring Robinson, who is giving evidence by video link from his wheelchair.
He previously told the court Wright asked him to manipulate the hours on his aircraft while the pilot was lying seriously injured in hospital.
The 32-year-old also admitted that he used cocaine about twice a year.
On Thursday, senior defence counsel David Edwardson KC read out text messages extracted from Robinson’s mobile phone by police, detailing regular exchanges with friends about supplying the drug.
Edwardson previously alleged Robinson was a cocaine-using “party animal” in the lead-up to the crash.
The text messages from November 2018 to August 2021 included lines from friends asking him if he was “getting more coke” or could he “get good stuff for Chrissy party” and did he have “some Charlie”.
One message read “footy players in town and want bags”, with Edwardson asking Robinson if that referred to the Richmond AFL team and whether he planned to supply its players with cocaine.
Robinson said he could not recall that message, adding he had never flown helicopters while high.
In response to Edwardson’s line of questioning, he also said: “Are you implying that I’m a drug dealer? No”.
In another message exchange, Robinson said he was “crook as a dog” with a friend texting back, “snorting too much coke out of Matty’s arse”.
Wright chuckled in the dock when the message was read out.
Also on Thursday, jurors were played a phone video of Robinson appearing to pour Bundaberg rum into a cup for an Aboriginal ranger in alcohol-restricted Arnhem Land, saying: “I’ll sort you out.”
Another video showed him with a ranger holding what appeared to be a joint, with Robinson saying “that’s some strong shit”.
A photo also showed Robinson with a wooden pipe, which he told the court wasn’t for marijuana.
“Hand on my heart, that was a tobacco pipe,” he said, declining to admit he smoked cannabis.
Robinson admitted he smoked a hemp vape for nerve pain while recovering in hospital after the crash.
The jury earlier heard that Wright visited Robinson while he was heavily sedated in hospital 10 days after the crash and asked him to manipulate flying hour records.
Robinson said he declined to do so.
The charges against Wright do not relate to the cause of the accident and the prosecution does not allege he is responsible for either the crash, Wilson’s death or Robinson’s injuries.
The trial continues.
-AAP
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