Maurice Blackburn Lawyers vow to bring closure to families after Hillcrest tragedy
Nearly two years on from the Hillcrest tragedy, which claimed the lives of six children, lawyers say they’ll be pursuing civil lawsuits to bring “justice and answers” for the victims.
North West Coast
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The lawyers representing four of the families whose children were killed in the Hillcrest school jumping castle tragedy say they are hoping to get “justice and answers”.
The comments come after Taz-Zorb, the company that provided the jumping castle involved in the incident at the Devonport-area school two years ago, was on Friday charged with health and safety breaches.
Students Zane Mellor, Peter Dodt, Jalailah Jayne-Marie Jones, Addison Stewart, Jye Sheehan, and Chace Harrison were killed at Hillcrest Primary School on December 16, 2021, after being flung about 10m into the air while inside the inflatable bounce house, with three other children also injured in the incident.
The Director of Public Prosecutions on Friday charged Taz-Zorb with a Category 2 offence under the Work Health and Safety Act, alleging the operator failed to comply with a health and safety duty which then exposed the children to serious risk.
Maurice Blackburn Lawyers are representing four of the victims’ families.
Peter Dodt and Addison Stewart’s family were present when senior associate Gezime Vasic and principal lawyer Dimi Ioannou addressed media in Devonport on Saturday.
The family members did not speak but were emotional and embraced one another following the press conference.
Ms Vasic said the families Maurice Blackburn Lawyers represented welcomed the charges against Taz-Zorb.
“The prosecution and any subsequent inquest can’t bring back the children who lost their lives before it had really even begun,” she said.
“The families and the people that were there on that tragic day will forever be impacted.”
Ms Vasic said she wanted to bring justice for the families and ensure “something like this never happens again”.
“No parent should ever have the burden of burying their children, and it breaks my heart every time I speak to the families, children and those affected by what happened on that tragic day.
“Maurice Blackburn has, and continues, to work very hard with the families to get answers and some sort of closure about what happened on that day.”
Ms Ioannou said the legal firm was in close contact with the families.
“No parent wants to send their child to school and later receive a phone call that the child’s not coming home,” she said.
“This is a tragedy that has sent shockwaves through the whole Devonport community, so Maurice Blackburn is supporting the families through this difficult journey.”
Ms Ioannou said that following the coronial inquest, it would be pursuing civil lawsuits on behalf of the families it represents.
“One of the things the families want is answers to why this jumping castle became airborne, and as a result, six children died, and several others were seriously injured,” she said.
“They do not want to see this tragedy ever occurring to any other family.
“We want justice and answers as to why we lost six beautiful children.”
simon.mcguire@news.com.au
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