Nine-day court trial into jumping castle tragedy at Hillcrest Primary School begins in Devonport
A first responder has described to a Tasmanian court hundreds of photos taken directly after a jumping castle tragedy killed six children.
Police & Courts
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The police officer who was immediately in charge of the site where six children died after falling from an airborne jumping castle at a Devonport school has described in detail hundreds of photos he and his colleagues took that day.
Tasmania Police Constable Dean Wotherspoon was among the first responders at Hillcrest Primary School on December 16, 2021, attending some of the dead and injured children and, later, documenting the scene.
During evidence in the Devonport Magistrates Court on Tuesday, Constable Wotherspoon said hundreds of photos were taken that day, including the final resting place of the jumping castle and the Zorb arena barrier, which ended up wrapped around a bunch of trees.
Constable Wotherspoon also described photographs of Zorb balls laying on the school oval, with blood stains on them.
Various photographs of pegs that were used to secure the jumping castle were also discussed.
Constable Wotherspoon was the first witness called to the stand at the Devonport Magistrates Court on Tuesday in the criminal hearing into the Hillcrest tragedy.
The hearing is expected to wrap up on November 15.
Jumping castle operator Rosemary Gamble, owner of 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.
A category 2 offence is when a person is exposed to risk of death or serious injury or illness.
Students Zane Mellor, Peter Dodt, Jalailah Jayne-Marie Jones, Addison Stewart, Jye Sheehan and Chace Harrison were killed at Hillcrest Primary School during the incident.
It has been alleged that Ms Gamble used four pegs to hold down the jumping castle when she was supposed to have used eight.
The prosecution has also accused her of using pegs 10mm in diameter instead of 16mm.
To begin the hearing, Prosecutor Madeline Wilson read out witness accounts from those present at the Hillcrest Primary School oval on the day of the tragedy – many of them from children.
Many statements described the wind event that lifted the jumping castle and the nearby Zorb balls into the air as a “mini-tornado”.
Ms Wilson said the jumping castle was dragged along the ground before becoming airborne.
Five of the children who died in the Hillcrest tragedy were on the jumping castle – while Addison Stewart, the sixth fatality, was not on the inflatable.
“It is the Crown case that Addison Stewart was lined up for the Zorb balls when the jumping castle became airborne, and the electric motor attached to the castle was also lifted and hit her to the side of the head,” Ms Wilson said.
“The cause of her death was head injury caused by blunt force trauma.”
The other children died from injuries sustained after falling from about 10m above the ground.
Ms Gamble’s defence lawyer Chris Dockray said East Inflatables, which manufactured the jumping castle used on the day of the Hillcrest tragedy, did not provide his client with the proper equipment and instructions to use the device.
He said Ms Gamble was only given four pegs 10mm in diameter for the jumping castle and was not given an operating manual for the inflatable.
“Ms Gamble, upon receipt of the jumping castle, went on the company’s website and downloaded a one-and-a-half page operating manual,” Mr Dockray said.
He said the website manual’s instructions on operating the inflatable were “ambiguous”.
The court heard that East Inflatables eventually put a 13-page operating manual on its website on how to use the jumping castle, but only after the Hillcrest tragedy.
‘Mini tornado’ blew across oval tossing jumping castle: court hears
Witnesses to the Hillcrest jumping castle tragedy have described how a “mini-tornado” blew across the primary school oval on December 16, 2021, tossing the inflatable 10m into the air.
The evidence was tendered in Devonport Magistrates Court on Tuesday during the opening day of a criminal case against jumping castle operator Rosemary Anne Gamble.
Meanwhile, Ms Gamble’s defence lawyer, Chris Dockray, said in court the company that provided the inflatable did not provide his client with the proper equipment and instructions.
At the start of the hearing into the Hillcrest jumping castle tragedy, Prosecutor Madeline Wilson read out many witness accounts from the day of the incident – large amounts of which were from children at the school.
Many of the witnesses said wind speeds that were like a “mini-tornado” caused the jumping castle to go airborne, with the inflatable being dragged along the ground before being lifted up by the gust.
In his opening defence statement, Mr Dockray, said that East Inflatables – the company that manufactured the jumping castle used on the day of the tragedy – had only provided his client with four pegs to hold down the device, when eight were required under Australian law.
Mr Dockray also said Ms Gamble was not given an operating manual for the jumping castle by East Inflatables and that on the company’s website, there was only a one-and-a-half page instruction document.
The court heard that the company eventually put a 13-page operating manual on its website, but only after the Hillcrest tragedy.
The first day of the hearing continues.
Hillcrest jumping castle trial livestreamed to small audience
A sombre mood descended upon Devonport’s Paranaple Centre on Tuesday morning, as the criminal case into the deaths of six Tasmanian students during a jumping castle incident at Hillcrest Primary School began.
A public gallery was set up in the Mersey Room at the centre to accommodate the large number of family and community members expected to attend the proceedings.
Victims’ families have been restricted to two people inside the court, while media were limited to four reporters across all outlets.
However, despite the high public interest in the case, the Mersey Room at the Paranaple Centre remained largely empty on Tuesday morning.
Only five members of the public attended the video feed, leaving the voice of lawyers for Rosemary Anne Gamble, the owner of castle-operator Taz-Zorb, to echo through the room as they discussed her case.
An overflow press gallery also gathered at the centre.
Ms Gamble has been charged with one count of failure to comply with health and safety duty Category 2, when a person is exposed to risk of death or serious injury or illness. She has pleaded not guilty.
The hearing, which is expected to run over two weeks, will continue to be live-streamed for the public.
Small courtroom packed as trial set to begin
The hearing into the Hillcrest Primary School jumping castle tragedy has begun in the Devonport Magistrates Court.
The small courtroom was full of people on Tuesday morning as criminal proceedings against Rosemary Anne Gamble started.
Ms Gamble, the owner of the company Taz-Zorb, which operated the jumping castle, has been charged with one count of failure to comply with health and safety duty Category 2. She has pleaded not guilty in her previous court appearances.
A category 2 offence is when a person is exposed to risk of death or serious injury or illness.
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 an inflatable jumping castle.
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