Hillcrest jumping castle victim's mother yells stinging wish at operator cleared over tragedy

7NEWS

a day ago

Families of six children killed in a primary school jumping castle accident are angry and in disbelief after a court dismissed a workplace safety charge against its operator.
Zane Mellor, Peter Dodt, Addison Stewart, Jalailah Jayne-Maree Jones, Jye Sheehan and Chace Harrison died after the incident at Hillcrest Primary School in Tasmania in December 2021.
They were enjoying end-of-year celebrations on the school's oval when a wind gust lifted the castle into the air.
Three other children were seriously injured in the accident.
Rosemary Gamble, owner of Taz-Zorb which set up the equipment, had pleaded not guilty to failing to comply with a workplace health and safety duty.
She was accused of failing to anchor the castle properly.
In delivering his decision in Devonport Magistrates Court on Friday, Magistrate Robert Webster said Gamble 'in some respects' failed to comply with her health and safety duties.
'However I am not satisfied, pursuant to (the charge) those failures were a substantial or significant cause of the children being exposed to the risk of serious injury or death,' he said.
Webster said the incident occurred due to an unprecedented weather system, namely a dust devil which was 'impossible to predict'.
'Gamble could have done more or taken further steps,' Webster wrote in his written decision.
'However, given the effects of the unforeseen and unforeseeable dust devil, had she done so, that would sadly have made no difference to the ultimate outcome.'
Webster told the court the charge was dismissed and Gamble was 'free to go'.
Mum of dead child yells at jumping castle operator after verdict
Georgie Burt, mother of Zane Mellor, yelled at Gamble inside the courtroom after the decision was handed down.
'I hope you see them every time I miss a birthday, miss a Christmas,' she said.
A representative of Gamble read a statement on her behalf outside court, saying she recognised the scars of the incident would likely remain forever.
'I never meant for something like this to happen. And I am just so sorry that it did,' the statement said.
'I am a mother. I can only imagine the pain that other parents are living with each and every day because of this terrible thing that happened.
'Their loss is something I will carry with me for the rest of my life.'
Andrew Dodt, the father of Peter Dodt, said he had been broken for a long time.
'Our hopes are just shattered now,' he said.
'At the end of the day all I wanted was an apology for my son not coming home and I'm never going to get it and that kills me.'
Gamble faced a 10-day hearing in November where it was alleged she only used pegs at four of the castle's eight anchor points, despite the manufacturer's instructions recommending eight.
Her lawyer Chris Dockray argued she had been left out to dry by the castle's Chinese manufacturer.
East Inflatables didn't provide instructions to Gamble upon purchase and only supplied four pegs, Dockray said.
She instead downloaded a two-page manual from the company's website, he said, which resulted in an interpretation four pegs were sufficient.
Preparations for an inquest were paused due to the criminal proceedings, while a class action has been launched against Gamble and the state of Tasmania.