Witnesses to a jumping castle tragedy in Tasmania almost three years ago in which six children died described seeing the inflatable carried into the air by a “mini tornado”, a court has heard.
in Devonport, in the state’s north — Chace Harrison, Addison Stewart, Jye Sheehan, Zane Mellor, Jalailah Jayne-Maree Jones and Peter Dodt.
Three other children were seriously injured.
Rosemary Anne Gamble, the operator of Taz-Zorb, which set up the castle, is charged with failing to comply with a health and safety duty — a Category 2 offence under the Work Health and Safety Act 2012.
She has pleaded not guilty.
A ‘mini tornado’
In her opening address, crown prosecutor Madeleine Wilson said the school was celebrating the end of the school year with an event known as the Big Day In on the morning of 16 December 2021.
“At the time of the set up, the weather conditions were described as dry heat, no wind … maybe just the slightest breeze,” she said.
Descriptions of what happened next from both child and adult witnesses were read to the court.
Many described the event as a “mini tornado”. Another said: “A gust of wind hit where I was … the gust was like a whirlwind.”
Rosemary Anne Gamble is facing a court hearing after pleading not guilty to breaches of safety law. Source: AAP / Ethan James
“I felt a strong breeze come of nowhere … the jumping castle flew to the other side of the oval maybe 75 metres away,” one person said.
“It was just like whoosh and then nothing,” a child said.
A teacher said they heard someone ask, “Where’s the jumping castle?” but they were unable to spot it at the time.
One witness said they heard people screaming, and another said they saw “the jumping castle sideways in the air”.
Pegs didn’t meet Australian standards, prosecution alleges
Wilson said in court that pegs securing such a jumping castle needed to be 16 millimetres in diameter, but the prosecution alleges that the ones used in this case were only 10 millimetres.
“None of the pegs met the Australian standards,” she said.
It’s also alleged by the prosecution that only four pegs were used. The prosecution’s argument is that according to a manufacturer’s manual, each of the eight available anchorage points should have been secured with a peg.
Wilson said the court will hear from an expert witness who is of the opinion if all eight anchorage points were used the jumping castle may not have failed.
She said Gamble “did not take all reasonable steps to ensure others were not exposed to serious injury or death”.
“At the very least, we say the defendant should have secured the jumping castle with eight pegs,” the prosecution told the court.
Gamble denies failing to comply with duty
Defence lawyer Chris Dockray said the jumping castle in question had been “erected at least 100 times previously in various circumstances” without incident.
He said in court his client checked with the manufacturer that the jumping castle complied with Australian standards before purchasing it and was “assured in writing that it did”.
Dockray said his client used the four pegs provided by the manufacturer, and while she was not provided with an operating manual, she sourced one from the manufacturer’s website.
Six Hillcrest Primary School students were killed while celebrating on the school’s oval. Source: Supplied / Tasmania Police
Dockray said in his opening address that the defence will call an IT expert during the trial who’s evidence will allege a 13-page manual relied upon by the prosecution was uploaded to the manufacturer’s website after the incident.
“In response to the allegations alleged against her, Ms Gamble accepts it will be open to you to find she had a health and safety duty under the act, but she denies she failed to comply with that duty,” he said.
“She asserts she took all reasonable steps to discharge that duty.”
The hearing is expected to continue for about two weeks and hear from multiple witnesses.
Among the witnesses are a forensic police officer, representatives of the overseas manufacturer of the jumping castle, two employees of Taz-Zorb, and risk management, engineering, weather and IT experts.
