Owners of Royal Adelaide Show ride that killed Adelene Leong are ‘devastated’ and facing financial ruin
THE owners of fatal Royal Adelaide Show ride have been left devastated and facing financial ruin after the accident that killed Adelene Leong, a court has heard.
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THE owners of a fatal Royal Adelaide Show ride have been left devastated and facing financial ruin after the accident that killed Adelene Leong, a court has heard.
Mother of two Jenny-Lee Sullivan and her husband Clinton Watkins, both 41, expressed their deep sorrow and heartache in the Industrial Court on Tuesday.
The court heard how they had been left devastated over the death of eight-year-old Adelene, particularly as they have a son the same age.
Mark Griffin QC, defending, described the pair as “hard working and honest” who would hand over any money to Adelene’s mother if it meant the accident never occurred.
“(They) want me to express publicly … their deep sorrow and sadness of the events of that day,” he told the court.
He said they also expressed their “profound” grief for Adelene’s mother after they listened to her emotional victim impact statement.
“They recognise it pales in significance to the burden that has fallen on (the mother),” he said.
The pair, who sat silently in the front row of the public gallery, dreamt of building a family business after buying the AirMaxx 360 from Spanish manufacturer SafeCo for $868,000 in June 2012.
The business is based in Beenleigh, in Brisbane’s south, and was founded in April 2012.
But now they are in “financial ruin” after the incident, having been forced to sell their Victorian house, live in a caravan or their car and only earn a “modest” combined income of $15,000 through casual show and carnival work — a “difficult” profession.
The pair, formerly of Rosebud, a seaside town on Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula, faces debts of at least $950,000.
They used $130,000 equity in their home to pay back a loan to Indigenous Business Australia, which helped facilitate the purchase of the ride.
Ms Sullivan, who now lives in a caravan while caring for their son, faces a fine of up to $300,000 while her business could be fined as much as $1.5 million.
While SafeWork SA charges against co-director Mr Watkins were dropped, the court heard he has battled “severe depression”, post-traumatic stress and suicidal thoughts.
Mr Griffin said the guilty pleas indicated their remorse and contrition and while he blamed other “experts” for flawed safety advice, he said she took responsibility for her failures.
The pair declined to comment outside court.
Last year, Ms Sullivan told The Advertiser how the incident had “devastated” and “crushed” her family.
She said: “You have got no idea how it has affected us. You would not wish this on anybody. We are just haunted by the situation.
“Words don’t describe it. I think about that poor mother every day, every hour, evert minute of every day. That is all I think about these days — the poor mother.”