Operator in jumping castle accident that killed six children appears in court

ABC NEWS (Australia)

The operator of a jumping castle pulled from the ground by a wind gust, killing six children, has appeared in court this week over her alleged part in the tragedy.

Transcript

00:00Day three, trying to get to the bottom of a Tasmanian tragedy that left these parents

00:08without their children.

00:10The six kids died during an end-of-year event at Hillcrest Primary School after a jumping

00:15castle was whipped into the sky by what has been described as a mini-tornado.

00:21Three other children were seriously injured.

00:24The operator, Rosemary Gamble, trading as TasZorb, has pleaded not guilty to failing

00:30to comply with health and safety duty.

00:33The prosecution alleges she failed to secure the castle by only securing it at half the

00:39anchor points, and that workers weren't adequately trained.

00:44The defence argues she used the four pegs provided by the manufacturer, and that the

00:49castle didn't come with an operating manual, Ms Gamble instead downloading instructions

00:54from the website.

00:56Today the Devonport Magistrates Court heard from her partner, Robert Monte, one of the

01:01two workers who set up on the day.

01:04He said neither he nor Ms Gamble completed formal training.

01:08"'We did a lot of YouTube searching, watching other people, seeing how they set up castles,'

01:14he said, adding, "'We were all self-taught.'"

01:18The court also heard from Jessie Barrett, a family friend of Ms Gamble working for her

01:23business.

01:24He said the only operating manual he'd seen was stitched to the side of the castle, and

01:30he did what he was told.

01:32He recalled the tragedy, looking over his shoulder to see the castle already in the

01:36air.

01:37"'I think I looked at Rosemary or Robert to see if it was, like, real, and just started

01:43running after it,' he said, adding that it reached about 10 metres high.

01:48"'It touched the ground for a split second, and that's when the kids fell out, and then

01:53it went up again.'

01:55He said he ran to help the kids before paramedics arrived."

01:59Families appeared incredulous as details of the business practices were heard.

02:05They shook their heads and scoffed, hearing that more pegs had been used at windier events.

02:11Tomorrow we're expecting to hear from a weather expert.

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