Outback Ballooning appeals Work Health and Safety Act charges after 2013 death of Stephanie Bernoth

THE owners of Alice Springs company Outback Ballooning have filed an appeal to the Territory’s highest court which, if successful, would see them escape a WorkSafe prosecution over the death of Sydney woman Stephanie Bernoth

Stephanie Bernoth died after her scarf was sucked into a large fan being used to inflate a hot air balloon in Alice Springs in 2013. PICTURE: Facebook

THE owners of Alice Springs company Outback Ballooning have filed an appeal to the Territory’s highest court which, if successful, would see them escape a WorkSafe prosecution over the death of Sydney woman Stephanie Bernoth.

Ms Bernoth, 35, died in July 2013 after her scarf was sucked into a large fan being used to inflate the balloon, crushing her throat.

Prosecutors dropped manslaughter charges against company boss Jason Livingston in early 2015, by which time a WorkSafe NT prosecution had stalled, when Magistrate David Bamber ruled Commonwealth Aviation laws rather than Territory workplace safety rules “covered the field” of legislation.

Supreme Court Justice Peter Barr earlier this year overturned Mr Bamber’s decision, following a two day hearing in May 2016, which centred on the narrow issue of whether the inflation fan was inextricably linked to, or ancillary from, the hot air balloon.

Justice Barr’s decision paved the way for a WorkSafe NT prosecution, which could have seen the company fined as much as $1.5 million.

But a notice of appeal filed in the Supreme Court last month shows Outback Ballooning will ask a panel of three judges in the Court of Appeal to overturn Justice Barr’s decision, and order the Work Health and Safety Act charges be dismissed.

The company, even if successful in its appeal, could still face Commonwealth charges and the potential loss of its air operator’s license.

In the Supreme Court on Monday, the appeal hearing was tentatively scheduled for August.