Movie World cleared of wrongdoing after child severely injured on ride

Daily Mail​

22-05-2025

Movie World has been cleared of any wrongdoing after a 12-year-old boy suffered severe head injuries while riding the carousel.
Work Health Safety Queensland (WHSQ) accused Movie World's operator, Village Roadshow Theme Parks, of failing in its duty of care after the April 2022 incident.
Southport Magistrates Court heard the boy was on the Looney Tunes Carousel ride and was standing on the back of the Wile E. Coyote character, instead of sitting on it.
The boy's head then went into an open hole in the ride's ceiling - where the poles move up and down as the carousel turns.
His head was then pinned between the edge of the opening and the machinery which operates the movement of the poles.
WHSQ told the court the boy suffered an 'ear-to-ear de-scalping injury' and several fractures.
Witnesses told Daily Mail Australia at the time that they heard a loud bang before the boy fell off the ride with his hair pulled to one side, his scalp showing and blood pouring down his face.
However, WHSQ has withdrawn its prosecution of Village Roadshow Theme Parks after just three days of evidence at the judge-only trial.
WHSQ Barrister Clare O'Connor told the court an independent safety report given to the theme park eight months prior to the incident identified risks in the carousel ride.
The report explained there was a risk of crush injury due to the ceiling openings and recommended the theme park install rigid plastic brushes on the apertures.
'Such brushes are considered best practice and are in use at carousels at Sea World and Dream World,' Ms O'Connor said.
The report also found the ride complied with safety requirements and was in 'excellent operational condition'.
Ms O'Connor told the court the theme park was considering installing the plastic brushes but the failure to do so had exposed riders to risk of injury and death.
However, Village Roadshow Barrister Saul Holt argued the boy's behaviour and subsequent injuries were 'not reasonably foreseeable'.
'This 12-year-old boy was described by one witness as surfing the character when his head, either deliberately or inadvertently, entered the hole in the ceiling of the ride,' Mr Holt said.
'The steps the prosecution say were absent … would not have prevented this from happening.'
Mr Holt said the ride was immediately shut down and was examined by engineers before it re-opened several months later.
The court also heard from theme park ride safety consultant David Randall, the author of the independent review.
Mr Randall explained the recommendation for plastic brushes was not a requirement for the carousel to operate.
Rather, the brushes, if installed, were meant to serve as a tactile deterrent rather than using a physical barrier.
He added the boy's head could still have gone through the plastic bushes and into the machinery.
Even with his decades of experience, Mr Randall told the court he did not identify a person standing on a carousel character as a foreseeable risk.
Movie World attraction attendant Ruby Piakura, who had operated the carousel for six months, also told the court she had never seen a rider stand on a character before the incident.
On the third day of trial, Ms O'Connor asked to withdraw the case, explaining the prosecution did not have further evidence to offer the court.
An application will now be made for WHSQ to pay Village Roadshow Theme Park's legal fees.