AusLeisure

Gold Coast theme park Warner Bros. Movie World has been cleared of any wrongdoing in relations to an incident on a carousel ride that left a 12-year-old boy with severe head injuries.

After two days of evidence at a judge-only trial in the Southport Magistrates Court, Work Health Safety Queensland (WHSQ) withdrew its prosecution of Movie World operator, Village Roadshow Theme Parks.

WHSQ had accused Village Roadshow of failing in its duty of care after the 12-year-old suffered an "ear-to-ear de-scalping injury" and several fractures on the attraction’s Looney Tunes Carousel ride in April 2022.

Magistrate Lisa O'Neill was told the boy was standing on the back of the carousel's Wile E. Coyote character, instead of sitting on it, when his head went through an open aperture in the ceiling.

The Court heard the boy's injuries were caused when his head was pinned between the edge of the aperture and machinery that drives the character up and down on a pole as the carousel turns.

As reported by the ABC, Barrister for WHSQ, Clare O'Connor, told the Court an independent safety report, provided to the theme park eight months before the accident, had identified the ceiling aperture as presenting a risk of crush injury and recommended rigid plastic brushes be installed on the opening.

O'Connor advised “such brushes are considered best practice and are in use at carousels at Sea World and Dreamworld.”

She said the report found the ride complied with safety requirements, was in "excellent operational condition" and a recommendation to install plastic brushes was being considered by the theme park before the incident.

O'Connor told the Court that by not installing the brushes, Village Roadshow had exposed carousel riders to a risk of injury or death.

Village Roadshow's barrister, Saul Holt, told the Court the boy's actions on the carousel and his resulting injuries were "not reasonably foreseeable".

She noted “this 12-year-old boy was described by one witness as surfing the character when his head, either deliberately or inadvertently, entered the hole in the ceiling of the ride.

"The steps the prosecution say were absent … would not have prevented this from happening."

Holt said the carousel was immediately shut down after the incident and underwent a "hardcore engineering solution" before it was re-opened several months later.

He noted “once the risk was reasonably foreseeable, Village Roadshow Theme Parks made it impossible for it to occur," he said.

Movie World attraction attendant Ruby Piakura, who was operating the carousel on the day of the incident, told the Court she had worked on the ride for more than six months at the time.

Piakura said she had never seen a rider stand on a character before that day and had hit the emergency stop as soon as she realised something was wrong.

Asked if she had seen a rider stand on a character since, she told the Court that, while she continued to work at Movie World, she no longer operated the carousel.

She advised "I haven't wanted to go back to working on that ride.”

Theme park ride safety consultant David Randall wrote the report that recommended plastic brushes be installed on the carousel.

He told the Court he had made the recommendation as an opportunity for improvement on the ride, not as a requirement for it to operate.

He said plastic brushes were a tactile deterrent rather than a physical barrier, meaning even if they were installed on the ride, the boy's head could still have gone through them and into the machinery above.

Randall said that, even with decades of experience in safety management, he did not identify a person standing on a carousel character as a foreseeable risk, explaining "I was extremely surprised after the event, which is unusual for me, as I'd never considered that as an issue.”

On the third day of the trial, O'Connor told Magistrate O'Neill that the prosecution had no further evidence to offer, and asked to withdraw from the case.

Magistrate O'Neill stated "I think that is a responsible decision, given the evidence we have heard” before she dismissed the charge against VRTP.

VRTP will make an application for legal costs after the charge was dismissed.

Image: Warner Bros. Movie World's Looney Tunes Carousel ride - used for illustrative purposes only. Credit: Village Roadshow Theme Parks.

Related Articles

11th April 2025 - Bikash Randhawa to leave Chief Operating Officer role at Village Roadshow Theme Parks

12th March 2025 - Gold Coast theme parks reopen after Cyclone Alfred closure

20th December 2024 - Wizard of Oz precinct opens at Warner Bros. Movie World

18th December 2024 - Court orders Granties Maze owner to dismantle ‘materially unsafe’ amusement rides

19th November 2024 - Former Sea World stunt skier sues Village Roadshow for $2.5 million foot injury

10th September 2024 - State Coroner suppresses NSW Police’s latest review of 1979 Luna Park Ghost Train fire

6th September 2024 - Warner Bros. establishes new theme parks and global attractions division

21st March 2024 - WorkSafe Queensland prosecution alleges safety failures in Daintree zip line fatality

25th November 2023 - Coroner rules that boy’s 2017 carnival ride death was preventable

3rd October 2023 - Warner Bros. Movie World transforms for Gold Coast’s best Halloween event

23rd August 2023 - Gold Coast Council gives approval for new 600-room hotel at Warner Bros. Movie World

5th July 2023 - Warner Bros. Movie World reveals new rollercoaster with planned 2024 opening

1st June 2023 - Village Roadshow Theme Parks introduces Reconciliation Action Plan

10th February 2023 - Small Business Ombudsman continues to back AALARA’s DMF plans for the amusement and attractions industry

27th January 2023 - Warner Bros. Movie World’s Scooby Doo ride to shut for $4 million upgrade

21st January 2023 - WorkSafe Queensland investigating accident at Brisbane skydiving venue

19th January 2023 - Guest action contributes to ride closures at Warner Bros. Movie World

15th December 2022 - Village Roadshow Theme Parks look to successful summer season

22nd December 2022 - Ardent Leisure to pay $2.15 million to family of woman who died on Dreamworld ride

20th September 2022 - Ardent Leisure secures Major Amusement Park Licences from regulator

4th February 2020 - WorkSafe Queensland prosecution results in $50,000 fine following inflatable amusement ride injury

13th June 2018 - WorkSafe Queensland consults on rope course strangulation fears

---

Support our industry news service
We hope that you value the news that we publish so while you're here can we ask for your support?

As an independent publisher, we need reader support for our industry news gathering so ask that - if you don't already do so - you back us by subscribing to the printed Australasian Leisure Management magazine and/or our online news.