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It is heard that the castle jumping tragedy continues at Hillcrest Primary School

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It is heard that the castle jumping tragedy continues at Hillcrest Primary School

Witnesses to a jumping castle tragedy in Tasmania almost three years ago in which six children died described seeing an inflatable balloon being carried into the air by a “mini tornado”, a court has heard.
in Devonport in the north of the state – Chace Harrison, Addison Stewart, Jye Sheehan, Zane Mellor, Jalailah Jayne-Maree Jones and Peter Dodt.
Three other children were also seriously injured.
Rosemary Anne Gamble, operator of Taz-Zorb, who built the castle, is charged with failing to comply with a health and safety duty, a Category 2 offense under the Health and Safety at Work Act 2012.

He pleaded not guilty.

‘Mini tornado’

In her opening statement, Attorney General Madeleine Wilson said the school celebrated the end of the school year with an event known as the Big Day on the morning of December 16, 2021.
“Weather conditions during installation were described as dry hot, no wind…maybe just a light breeze,” he said.
Statements from both child and adult witnesses about what happened next were read to the court.

Many people described the incident as a “mini tornado.” Another said: “A strong wind hit where I was… The wind was like a tornado.”

Side profile of a woman with blonde hair, dark glasses and a white blouse.

Rosemary Anne Gamble faces a court hearing after pleading not guilty to violating the security law. Source: AAP / Ethan James

“I felt a strong breeze coming from nowhere… the jumping goal flew to the other side of the oval, maybe 75 meters away,” one person said.

“It was just like buzzing and then nothing happened,” one child said.
A teacher heard someone ask, “Where’s the jumping castle?” He said they heard him ask. but they didn’t realize it at the time.

One eyewitness said they heard people screaming, while another said they saw “the bouncy castle in the air, sideways.”

Pegs did not meet Australian standards, prosecution alleges

Wilson told the court that the nails securing such a jumping goal were supposed to be 16 millimeters in diameter, but the prosecution claims those used in this case were only 10 millimeters.
“None of the pegs met Australian standards,” he said.

It was also claimed by the prosecution that only four pegs were used. The prosecution’s argument is that, according to the manufacturer’s manual, each of the eight available fixing points should be secured with a nail.

Wilson said the court will seek the opinion of an expert who is of the opinion that the jumping castle may not malfunction if all eight anchorage points are used.
He said Gamble “failed to take all reasonable steps to ensure that others did not suffer serious injury or death”.

“We say that at least the defendant should have secured the jumping castle with eight nails,” the prosecution told the court.

Gamble denies failing to fulfill duty

Defense lawyer Chris Dockray said the jumping castle in question had been erected “at least 100 times before under various circumstances” without incident.
He told the court his client had checked with the manufacturer that the jumping castle met Australian standards before purchasing it and had been “assured to this effect in writing”.

Dockray said its customer used four manufacturer-supplied latches and bought one from the manufacturer’s website, even though he was not given a user manual.

Composite image of six children.

Six Hillcrest Elementary School students were killed while celebrating on the school oval. Source: Provided / Tasmanian Police

In his opening statement, Dockray said the defense would call an IT expert during the trial, whose evidence would be that a 13-page manual on which the prosecution relied was uploaded to the manufacturer’s website after the incident.

“In response to the allegations made against her, Ms Gamble accepts that it would be open to you to establish that she had a duty to health and safety under the law, but denies failing to discharge that duty,” he said.
“He claims to have taken all reasonable steps to discharge this duty.”
The trial is expected to last approximately two weeks and hear many witnesses.

Witnesses include a judicial police officer, representatives of the jumping castle’s overseas manufacturer, two employees of Taz-Zorb and experts in risk management, engineering, weather and IT.

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