The jury in Matt Wright’s criminal trial in the Northern Territory Supreme Court is currently deadlocked on one of the three charges against the celebrity crocodile wrangler.

Mr Wright is facing three counts of attempting to pervert the course of justice, to which he has pleaded not guilty.

The charges relate to alleged events in the aftermath of a helicopter crash during a crocodile egg-collecting mission in remote West Arnhem Land on February 28, 2022.

The accident killed Mr Wright’s close friend and Netflix co-star, Chris “Willow” Wilson, and left pilot Sebastian Robinson with serious injuries, rendering him paraplegic.

helicopter crash site

The helicopter crashed in a remote part of the Top End, west of Maningrida. (Supplied: Careflight)

Crown prosecutor Jason Gullaci SC has told jurors the cause of the chopper crash is not the subject of Mr Wright’s charges.

Instead, each of the three charges allege Mr Wright tried to interfere with or obstruct investigations into the crash.

Following three weeks of evidence, the jury retired on Thursday afternoon to begin deliberations.

On Friday morning Acting Justice Alan Blow reconvened jurors over a question they had related to the charge on which they are deadlocked.

The court did not hear the question as it related to the jury’s deliberations.

A man wearing a tie, holding hands with his wife as they walk out of court.

Matt Wright has been supported by his wife Kaia Wright each day in court. (ABC News: Michael Parfitt)

The charge in question relates to an allegation that Mr Wright directed an associate to destroy the maintenance records of the helicopter involved in the fatal crash.

The court has heard that the jury is now agreed on a further two counts, but those verdicts are not yet known.

Jury retires after defence says there are ‘no winners’ in Matt Wright case

After a trial that “captured the imagination” of the world’s media, the case against Matt Wright boils down to nothing more than “guesswork and speculation”, a court has heard.

One charge relates to allegations Mr Wright lied in a police interview about checking the helicopter’s fuel at the scene of the crash.

The evidence on that count included covertly recorded conversations in which Mr Wright allegedly contradicted his statement about the level of fuel in the tank.

The other charge is tied to alleged incidents between March 3 and 13 in 2022.

Among those, Mr Wright is accused of visiting Mr Robinson in hospital and pressuring him to doctor flight log documents, to hide the true amount of hours the crashed chopper had flown.

The jury will now continue its deliberations.

Loading