Just hours before celebrity crocodile wrangler Matt Wright was set to walk free from prison, his wife Kaia gave birth to their third child – which devastatingly, he missed.
“Finally home with my family after one hell of a fight,” the star of the Netflix hit reality show, Outback Wrangler posted on social media.
“Didn’t quite make the birth of our beautiful boy Sterling but Kaia did an incredible job.”
SERVING HIS SENTENCE
While Matt and Kaia are said to be “overjoyed” about the birth of their son, who was born on Mother’s Day – the pair are disappointed that Matt was not given an early release on compassionate grounds to witness the new arrival.
Just days before Sterling arrived, Wright applied for a seven-day early release which was knocked back by the office of the NT Corrections Commissioner, Matthew Varley.
“I acknowledge the compassionate grounds that your client has presented in seeking early release from his sentence,” Commissioner Varley wrote after rejecting the application.
“However, I do not intend to alter my decision. Mr Wright will be required to serve the full sentence term imposed by the court, which expires on 11 May 2026.”
It is understood Kaia also rejected an offer to have Wright escorted by a corrections officer to the hospital for the birth.
“She thought the offer was ridiculous at a woman’s most vulnerable moment and didn’t like the thought of unwanted media attention around Matt in his prison uniform, escorted by prison guards into a very public hospital whilst trying to give birth in privacy,” a prison source told News.com.au.
CONTINUING APPEAL
In December last year, Wright was sentenced to 10 months in prison, suspended after five months, for attempting to interfere with an investigation into a helicopter crash that killed his best friend Chris “Willow” Wilson in February 2022.
While Wright was not found to be responsible for the crash, he was convicted of misleading police about how much fuel he thought the aircraft had – and asking the pilot, Sebastian Robinson, to alter helicopter records after the crash.
Justice Alan Blow established the crash occurred while Wilson and Robinson were collecting crocodile eggs in remote Arnhem Land – but could not find why the chopper crashed.
A separate report by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau, which was not included in the NT Supreme Court trial, found the aircraft had likely run out of fuel.
Now free from prison, Wright is subject to a two-year good behaviour bond – and he’s appealing the convictions.
“I’ve done my time, I’m continuing with my appeal and will keep fighting to bring to light the injustice that’s occurred,” Wright said shortly after leaving Darwin Correctional Centre.
