Former senior sergeant Neil Mellon has been sentenced for a string of charges including destroying evidence at the scene of a chopper crash which killed Outback Wrangler star Chris Wilson two years ago as well as disclosing confidential information and using falsified records to obtain a promotion.
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00:00He walked in to Darwin local court this afternoon, but when his family walked out half an hour
00:07later, Neil Mellon wasn't with them.
00:10The former cop taken straight into custody to serve the next three months behind bars.
00:16Once a well-respected senior sergeant, pleading guilty to a string of charges including destroying
00:22evidence and disclosing confidential information.
00:25Among the offences was the destruction of the mobile phone belonging to Netflix star
00:29Chris Willow Wilson, who died during a fatal chopper crash in West Arnhem Land in February
00:342022.
00:35Today, the court heard Mellon visited the scene alongside his co-accused Matt Wright
00:41and Bush pilot Michael Burbage.
00:43On his way to the crash site, Mellon spoke to police, telling them he would preserve
00:48the scene.
00:49Instead, while placing Mr Wilson into a body bag, he removed a mobile phone from his pocket
00:54and handed it to Burbage, who later destroyed it.
00:58Mellon's barrister, Sally Oslin, said her client was led to believe that there was something
01:02on his friend's phone that might be upsetting or damaging to Mr Wilson's widow.
01:07Mellon also admitted to disclosing sensitive information related to a domestic violence
01:11case and other high-profile investigations to people outside the police force.
01:17He also had a colleague falsify his training records in an attempt to gain a promotion.
01:23This isn't a once-off aberration.
01:25This seems to be a series of events where we're talking about defying the very principles
01:29that go to the core of the way we do justice.
01:33During her sentencing remarks, Judge Fong Lim said Mellon had allowed the power of being
01:37a senior police officer go to his head, and his actions were indicative of someone who
01:43believed they were above the law.
01:45Today's outcome, a stern warning to a police force desperate to maintain trust within the
01:51community.