Dreamworld operator Ardent Leisure to plead guilty to charges over 2016 deaths

Ardent Leisure intends to plead guilty to charges relating to the deaths of four people in 2016 at the Gold Coast theme park.

The entrance to the Dreamworld theme park on the Gold Coast. Picture: AAP

Dreamworld operator Ardent Leisure intends to plead guilty to charges relating to the tragic accident on the theme park’s Thunder River Rapids Ride in 2016 that resulted in the deaths of four people.

On Wednesday morning, Ardent’s lawyer Bruce Hodgkinson told Southport Magistrates Court in Queensland he had been instructed that his client would plead guilty at a hearing scheduled for September.

The company has been accused of failing to comply with its health and safety duty, exposing individuals to a risk of serious injury or death.

The maximum penalty for each breach is $1.5m, or $4.5m in total, although the court is yet to levy a penalty on the embattled company.

Ardent Leisure lawyer Bruce Hodgkinson outside Southport Magistrates Court. Picture: Glenn Hampson

Ardent’s shares edged up by 1.4 per cent to 36c but it still faces problems both locally and offshore.

The leisure company will be affected by the closure of the Queensland borders to Sydney residents.

The company’s mainstay, its Main Event Entertainment business in the United States, has been affected by the resurgence of the coronavirus pandemic in many of the states in which it operates.

Ardent declined to comment but the plea sees it take responsibility for the accident and it has previously said it had spent millions on new rides at Dreamworld and on boosting safety standards.

Queensland Work Health and Safety Prosecutor Aaron Guilfoyle last week lodged three charges against Ardent Leisure Limited.

The charges stemmed from an investigation brought after the coronial inquiry into the deaths of Roozi Araghi, Luke Dorsett, Kate Goodchild and Cindy Low on the popular Thunder River Rapids Ride at the Gold Coast theme park.

The four victims died after their raft collided with another raft stuck on a mechanical conveyor, causing them to fall onto the conveyor and suffer horrific injuries.

Last week, Roozi Araghi’s father told The Australian the prosecutor had informed the victims‘ families that the company intended to plead guilty to the charges.

Behrooz Araghi, said he was “grateful” for the prosecutor’s work because it would prevent the case being painfully drawn out and the horrors of the incident re-examined in court.

“I think what he (the prosecutor) has done will bring it to an end and stop it dragging on for years,” Mr Araghi said.

The Office of the Work Health and Safety Prosecutor has said there were no further charges expected to be laid against the company.

Queensland coroner James McDougall was scathing in February in his assessment of the company’s culture and practices in the lead up to the incident.

He cited a litany of safety breaches, including the failure to do a proper risk assessment of the ride in the 30 years since it began operating, and urged the Queensland government to investigate whether the company should face prosecution.