Owners of Royal Adelaide Show ride to face charges over death of Adelene Leong

THE owners of a Royal Adelaide Show thrill ride which flung eight-year-old Adelene Leong 10 metres face imminent charges over her death.

Adelene Leong at the Royal Adelaide Show. Picture supplied by family.

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THE owners of a Royal Adelaide Show thrill ride which flung eight-year-old Adelene Leong 10 metres face imminent charges over her death.

It is understood SafeWork SA investigators are poised to charge the owners of the ride, which the Australian Securities and Investments Commission lists as C, J & Sons Amusements Pty Ltd, within days. SafeWork SA, which has already laid charges against a safety company and the engineer boss allegedly responsible for inspecting the Airmaxx 360, declined to comment on the imminent prosecution when contacted by The Advertiser on Thursday.

Company records show the co-directors are Jenny-Lee Sullivan, 40, and Clinton Watkins, 41, of Rosebud — a seaside town on Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula, about 75km southeast Melbourne.

Sources say the ride’s owners were the main targets of police and SafeWork SA investigations, whose statute window to prosecute would expire in September.

It is also understood the Director of Public Prosecutions, Adam Kimber, SC, considered for several months whether to lay manslaughter charges against the owners but chose not to pursue them due to the difficulties of obtaining a conviction in such circumstances.

Calls to a phone number listed by company documents as belonging to Ms Sullivan were not returned on Thursday.

Adelene died after falling from the AirMaxx 360 ride at the Royal Adelaide Show 2014. Pic: Ten Eyewitness News

Their imminent prosecution comes as the case against Safe is Safe Pty Ltd, and its Queensland director, Hamish Grant Munro, 57, faced the Industrial Court for the first time yesterday.

In a brief hearing, the court was told “full disclosure” had been made and the parties were in continuing discussions.

SafeWork SA alleges they failed to protect Royal Adelaide Show thrill seekers from danger amid a series of blunders which ultimately led to Adelene’s death on the new high-speed ride. She was flung to her death from the ride on September 12, 2014 in front of horrified onlookers, while on holiday from Malaysia.

Engineer Hamish Munro, from Safe is Safe Pty Ltd.

The case, which came after the DPP also ruled out criminal manslaughter charges against Mr Munro, alleges the company’s conduct “exposed” showgoers to a “risk of death or serious injury”.

The state’s safety watchdog further alleges Mr Munro was “reckless” over his inspection that failed to identify ride problems, specifically around Adelene’s seat 15 as well as seats four and five on the ride.

Outside court yesterday, defence lawyer Kerri Fredericks for Safe is Safe and Munro said they would be contesting the charges. Munro, who now lives in Townsville, declined to comment yesterday.

The case will return to court later this month.