Hillcrest tragedy: What happened in the criminal trial for week two
Further details have emerged from the Hillcrest jumping castle tragedy during a criminal trial at the Devonport Magistrates Court. Here’s what’s happened in court.
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The criminal trial into the Hillcrest Primary School jumping tragedy continued for a second week at the Devonport Magistrates Court.
Jumping castle owner Rosemary Gamble, of the local company Taz-Zorb, has been charged with one count of failure to comply with health and safety duty category 2. She has entered a plea of not guilty.
Six children, Zane Mellor, Peter Dodt, Jalailah Jayne-Marie Jones, Addison Stewart, Jye Sheehan and Chace Harrison, died after the jumping castle was flung 10m in the air during an end of school year function.
A decision has been delayed with the trial to continue on Monday with evidence for the defence still to be heard.
What has happened in court this week
DAY FIVE: Jumping castle ‘not to standard’
The inflatable and pegs were not compliant in the wake of the Hillcrest tragedy, an expert told the court.
Mechanical engineer Roderick McDonald, who delivered a report on the incident for the prosecution, said the equipment was not up to Australian standard.
“The crux of the findings were the castle was not compliant to – in fact, all of the device were not compliant to – the Australian standards,” Mr McDonald said.
“The operations were not compliant to Australian standards, and the systems that were in place were not compliant with – so things like the choice of the anchorage system was not the one to the manufacturer’s instruction and not what would be the standard.”
An engineering report by Geoton, shown to the court, claimed the pegs were below the minimum standard required in most circumstances after a comparison of the pegs used that day to others used in the industry.
DAY SIX: Pegs ‘couldn’t hold castle’
If the jumping castle operators at the centre of the Hillcrest tragedy had used eight star pickets instead of four pegs, the inflatable could have been able to withstand much stronger wind speeds, a court as heard.
Mr McDonald’s mechanical engineering report into the incident found if Taz-Zorb had used a different anchorage system the inflatable would have withstood wind speeds between 109.8km/h and 119km/h.
Last week, expert evidence had been given to the court that the weather event at Hillcrest Primary School could have experienced wind speeds between 71km/h and 87km/h.
On Tuesday, Mr McDonald said that Taz-Zorb had not taken measurers to reduce the risk excessive wind speeds could pose to the safety of those on the jumping castle.
“Taz-Zorb modified the designed anchorage system when they were not competent to do so,” he said.
He also alleged all the Taz-Zorb workers operating the jumping castle at Hillcrest Primary School were not competent or adequately trained on the day it went airborne.
“ … the training for all Taz-Zorb workers was inadequate,” he told the court.
DAY SEVEN: ‘Smooth seas don’t make for good sails’
An expert believes Taz-Zorb owner Ms Gamble should have “sought help” to understand the “complex and difficult” Australian standards for jumping castles.
Mr McDonald told a court this in response to questioning from Ms Gamble’s defence lawyer Chris Dockary.
On Wednesday, the mechanical engineer told the court he believed Ms Gamble was not adequately trained on how to operate a jumping castle.
He claimed Ms Gamble was unaware of the risks associated with using four pegs, rather than the recommended eight.
“Smooth seas don’t make for good sails,” he said.
“If you experience comfortable conditions all the time, you don’t actually understand extremes.
“I think if you had operated 200 times and gone through a number of events … that will probably make you a better operator and teach you that extreme events are things you need to consider.”
He agreed with Ms Gamble’s defence lawyer Chris Dockary, who said the incident was difficult to analyse.
>> FULL REPORT: DAY SEVEN HERE
DAY EIGHT: ‘No way, Jose’ would more pegs have prevented the tragedy
If the jumping castle at Hillcrest Primary School had been held down by 20 pegs, the outcome would not have changed, the defence alleged.
Mechanical engineer David Eager, who provided a report on behalf of the defence, told the court “no way, Jose” would eight pegs have prevented the jumping castle becoming airborne.
He said the wind conditions when the jumping castle was flung about 10m in the air were “statistically rare” and described it as a “black swan event”.
“It was concluded that the jumping castle anchor system catastrophically failed as a direct result of the wind event,” Dr Eager said in his report.
“The magnitude of the wind event was so great that the anchor system would have failed regardless of any of the suggested interventions.
“It appears that the wind event hoovered up the inflatable devices like they were small children’s toys from their bedroom.”
Dr Eager said he believed Ms Gamble was competent – an opinion that differed from that of fellow mechanical engineer Roderick McDonald, who gave evidence earlier during the hearing.
“In my eyes, they are competent because they had done it 100 times. It’s not rocket science putting one of these things up. You don’t need a PhD to plug it in and pump it.”
The Magistrate also indicated on Thursday extra sitting days would be required, with Magistrate Webster saying he wanted all evidence heard before Christmas.
>> FULL REPORT: DAY EIGHT HERE
DAY NINE: Tempers flare between expert and prosecution
An expert for the defence hit out at WorkSafe Tasmania as he clashed with the prosecution in a tense exchange.
Mechanical engineer David Eager’s report on behalf of the defence was cross-examined by the prosecution on Friday when he made the comments on WorkSafe Tasmania.
“Where were the WorkSafe Tassie guys?
“Six years she operated, and not once,” Dr Eager said before being cut off by prosecutor Madeleine Wilson mid-sentence.
Earlier, tempers flared as both Ms Wilson and Magistrate Robert Webster told Dr Eager to answer the questions he had been asked.
Both believed he was straying from the original questions.
The court also heard from a cyber security expert, Gridware chief technology officer Michael Heikkilae, whose report detailed the accessibility of a safety manual from the inflatable’s manufacturer East Inflatables.
One defence witness had yet to give evidence by the end of Friday, with the trial extended to return on Monday.
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