Dreamworld Thunder River Rapids Ride inquest: Former manager Troy Margetts denies telling operator not to talk to police

A FORMER Dreamworld manager has broken down in tears at the Thunder River Rapids Ride inquest this morning as he emotionally denied an allegation levelled at him in the wake of the disaster.

A DREAMWORLD operations manager has emotionally denied an allegation that he told a ride operator not to talk to police the day of the disaster which killed four people.

Giving evidence to the Thunder River Rapids Ride disaster inquest in Southport this morning, former general manager of operations Troy Margetts paused frequently and tried to fight back tears as he answered questions about the allegations from ride operator Courtney Williams that he told her not to talk to police.

“My response to that, is that did not happen in any way,” Mr Margetts said.

“My only conversation regarding that... was to ask the officer... sorry... to remove her from that situation because of where she was.

“And because what we were seeing was very traumatic.”

Mr Margetts’s face crumpled and his voice broke as he spoke before wiping away tears with a tissue offered to him.

Barrister Toby Nielsen, acting for the family of Roozbeh Araghi, accepted the apology.

“Can I say from my observation of you today, on behalf of myself and the people I represent, I wholly accept that explanation,” Mr Neilsen said.

Former Dreamworld General Manager of Operations Troy Margetts arrives at the Magistrates Court in Southport this morning. Picture: AAP

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Mr Margetts also told the inquest Dreamworld struggled moving from a family run business to a corporate entity, placing staff under pressure to deal with demands.

Mr Margetts, who worked at the park for almost 30 years, said in some instances the company policies “struggled to keep up”.

He agreed the changes left different departments at the park “insular”.

Barrister Matthew Hickey, acting for the family of victim Cindy Low, asked: “Each department was quite separate and discreet?”

Mr Margetts replied: “Correct. There were challenges with that.”

Former Thunder River Rapids ride operator Courtney Williams. Picture: AAP

The inquest is examining what happened about 2pm on October 25, 2016 after a pump stopped working on the Thunder River Rapids Ride, causing water levels to drop and a raft to become stuck on the conveyor belt.

That raft was hit by another carrying Luke Dorsett, his sister Kate Goodchild, her daughter Ebony, 12, Roozbeh Araghi, Cindy Low and her son, Kieran, 10.

The four adults were killed. The children escaped uninjured.

“The businesses had grown significant in the time since I had started,” he said.

“Culturally when I started it was effectively still a family business and by the time I had left it had become a corporation,” he said.

Mr Hickey asked: “People in middle management were being asked to do more, much more, frequently with less?”

Mr Margetts replied: “In some instances yes.”

The former general manager was also asked about an increase in the emergency drills at the park.

Mr Margetts said that since the incident a number of new training scenarios had been undertaken.

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