AusLeisure

Criminal proceedings against Rosemary Gamble, the jumping castle operator charged with workplace safety breaches over Tasmania's Hillcrest Primary School tragedy of December 2021 in which six children died, commenced in November 2024 in Devonport Magistrates Court.

Rosemary Gamble, trading as Taz-Zorb, was today found not guilty by Magistrate Robert Webster of failing to comply with a health and safety duty.

Chace Harrison, Jalailah Jayne-Maree Jones, Zane Mellor, Addison Stewart, Jye Sheehan and Peter Dodt were killed at the end-of-year school celebration in 2021 when the jumping castle they were playing on became airborne due to a fierce wind, described by some witnesses as a "mini tornado" and by a weather expert as a 'dust devil', which swept through the school grounds with devastating effect.

In the complaint, WorkSafe Tasmania alleged Gamble and two employees tethered the jumping castle at four of the eight required anchor points, and did not install the pegs at the appropriate angle.

WorkSafe Tasmania further claimed the workers were not adequately trained nor supervised to safely set up the castle, which exposed the children to the "risk of serious injury or death".

However Gamble's defence argued nothing could have been done to prevent the tragedy.

As reported in the ABC, in his decision, Magistrate Webster said the ‘dust devil’ that lifted the castle was "unforeseeable" and Gamble's actions "made no difference to the ultimate outcome".

In his 135-page decision, Magistrate Webster wrote that the failure of the anchorage system, as suggested by the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), had not been proven beyond reasonable doubt.

According to the ABC, families of the children killed in the Hillcrest jumping castle tragedy have reacted with shock and sorrow, and have questioned the legal system, after the castle's operator was told she is "free to go".

A coronial inquest will occur next, while civil lawyers are preparing a class action.

Image. Chace Harrison, Jalailah Jayne-Maree Jones, Zane Mellor, Addison Stewart, Jye Sheehan, Peter Dodt died in the Hillcrest School tragedy 

Related Articles

16th November 2024 - Defence witness Professor David Eager involved in tense exchange at Hillcrest jumping castle trial

14th November 2024 - Court hears operator of jumping castle in Hillcrest School tragedy ‘not competent’ to make safety assessments

5th November 2024 - Criminal hearing commences against jumping castle operator in Hillcrest School tragedy

2nd February 2024 - Hillcrest School jumping castle operator pleads not guilty to health and safety charge

10th October 2023 - Further delay to Hillcrest jumping castle inquest as Coroner still denied access to WorkSafe report

22nd February 2023 - Inquest into Hillcrest Primary School jumping castle deaths cannot commence as WorkSafe refuses to release findings to coroner

19th October 2022 - Tragedy of Hillcrest Primary School jumping castle deaths acknowledged by Tasmanian Coroner

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