{"id":183318,"date":"2025-10-01T20:17:24","date_gmt":"2025-10-01T20:17:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/183318\/"},"modified":"2025-10-01T20:17:24","modified_gmt":"2025-10-01T20:17:24","slug":"complex-brief-of-evidence-after-group-charged-with-stealing-crocodile-eggs-from-kakadu-national-park","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/183318\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Complex’ brief of evidence after group charged with stealing crocodile eggs from Kakadu National Park"},"content":{"rendered":"

Prosecutors have submitted a “complex” brief of evidence in a crocodile egg-stealing case against four men, including a pilot who survived the fatal helicopter crash at the centre of Matt Wright’s criminal trial.<\/p>\n

Sebastian Robinson, Timothy Luck, Dean Larsen and Stephen Slark are facing Commonwealth charges alleging the “unauthorised taking” of eggs from Kakadu National Park in February 2024.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Farming saltwater crocodiles is a lucrative business in the NT. (ABC News: Kathleen Calderwood)<\/p>\n

Mr Robinson and Mr Luck were both involved in the crocodile egg collecting mission that claimed the life of television personality Chris “Willow” Wilson in February 2022.<\/p>\n

Mr Robinson was piloting the helicopter when it crashed and suffered lifelong injuries as a result, including paraplegia and a traumatic brain injury.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Sebastian Robinson survived a chopper crash that claimed the life of Chris “Willow” Wilson. (Supplied: Kane Chenoweth)<\/p>\n

The crash was at the heart of Wright’s recent NT Supreme Court trial, where the celebrity crocodile wrangler was found guilty of attempting to obstruct the crash investigation<\/a>.<\/p>\n

During the trial, Mr Robinson gave evidence over several days via a video link from a wheelchair.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Mr Robinson testified in Wright’s trial, where he told the jury the he was “a different person” after the helicopter crash. (ABC News: Mary Franklin)<\/p>\n

The ABC is not alleging any wrongdoing on behalf of Mr Robinson or Mr Luck in relation to the 2022 crash.<\/p>\n

James Stuchbery, the lawyer representing the four co-accused, appeared in Darwin Local Court on Tuesday and told the judge he had received the brief of evidence late last week.<\/p>\n

“It is a complex brief that will take some time for us to review,” Mr Stuchbery said.<\/p>\n

The lawyer told the court the brief included “purported DNA evidence” related to crocodile hatchlings and said the case involved a complicated set of allegations.<\/p>\n

None of the four men were required to appear in court.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

The case alleges crocodile eggs were stolen from the wild. (ABC News: Christopher Testa)<\/p>\n

The company SDRL PTY LTD, which operates under the name Kinga Contracting, is also facing one count of obtaining benefit by deception in relation to the case.<\/p>\n

According to documents from the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), Mr Robinson and Mr Larsen were both listed as directors at the time of the alleged offending.<\/p>\n

All charges were adjourned until November 25.<\/p>\n

The allegations came about following a joint investigation by Parks Australia, the Australian Federal Police and the Northern Territory Parks and Wildlife Commission.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

The matter was mentioned in Darwin Local Court this week, following a joint investigation by several agencies. (ABC News: Pete Garnish)<\/p>\n

Crocodile egg collecting is a lucrative business in the NT<\/a> and a growing industry across Australia.<\/p>\n

The practice is done for various reasons, including conservation and commercial business operations.<\/p>\n

It often involves a helicopter pilot lowering a collector into nests from the air via a sling, avoiding the need to walk through crocodile-inhabited waters.<\/p>\n

\"Hands<\/p>\n

Crocodile eggs are collected for a range of purposes, from conservation to farming. (ABC News: Chloe Chomicki)<\/p>\n

In certain areas, egg collection requires approval from environmental authorities and traditional owners.<\/p>\n

Kakadu, which is a UNESCO world heritage-listed site, is located about 150 kilometres east of Darwin.<\/p>\n

The national park covers almost 20,000 square kilometres \u2014 including estuaries, flood plains and billabongs \u2014 and is home to an estimated 10 per cent of the Northern Territory’s crocodile population.<\/p>\n

\"Trees,<\/p>\n

Kakadu National Park is home to countless crocodiles. (ABC News: Victoria Ellis)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Prosecutors have submitted a “complex” brief of evidence in a crocodile egg-stealing case against four men, including a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":183319,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[29623,64,63,29622,117244,117240,117239,117242,117247,117251,86772,117252,117249,117241,61163,116944,117245,117248,117253,1098,117243,117246,117254,59690,1160,128,48747,37777,117250,58040,61164,338],"class_list":["post-183318","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wildlife","tag-afp","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australian-federal-police","tag-croc-egg-missions","tag-croc-egg-stealing","tag-croc-egg-theft","tag-croc-egg-theft-charge","tag-croc-farming","tag-crocodile-egg","tag-crocodile-eggs","tag-crocodile-hatchling","tag-dean-larsen","tag-illegal-croc-eggs","tag-kakadu","tag-kakadu-national-park","tag-kakadu-park","tag-men-involved-in-matt-wright-case","tag-northern-territory-parks-and-wildlife-commission","tag-nt","tag-nt-croc-egg-charge","tag-nt-crocodiles","tag-nt-parks-and-wildlife-commission","tag-parks-australia","tag-pilot","tag-science","tag-sebastian-robinson","tag-stealing","tag-stephen-slark","tag-theft","tag-timothy-luck","tag-wildlife"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/183318","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=183318"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/183318\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/183319"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=183318"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=183318"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=183318"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}