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The manufacturer of a jumping castle involved in a tragic incident that killed six children at Hillcrest Primary School in Tasmania will provide testimony at a criminal court hearing.
In December 2021, students Chace Harrison, Jalailah Jayne-Maree Jones, Zane Mellor, Addison Stewart, Jye Sheehan, and Peter Dodt were celebrating the end of the school year when a sudden, powerful wind gust—described by witnesses as a “mini-tornado”—lifted the jumping castle and several Zorb balls into the air.
Prosecutor Madeleine Wilson alleges that Gamble did not properly secure the jumping castle, anchoring it at only four of the required eight points, with smaller-than-mandated pegs.
She added that the anchor pegs used were 10mm in diameter instead of the 16mm required by Australian safety standards.
Gamble’s lawyer, Chris Dockray, argued that Taz-Zorb received written confirmation from the manufacturer stating the castle met Australian safety standards.
However, Dockray noted that Gamble only had access to a brief, one-and-a-half-page operational guide, downloaded from the manufacturer’s website.
He claimed this document was insufficient and misleading; it was later replaced with a more comprehensive 13-page manual after the accident.
Dockray suggested that even with proper tethering, the unusual and severe nature of the wind event would have overwhelmed safety measures, resulting in the same tragic outcome.
Georgie Burt, the mother of Zane, sat near Gamble in the courtroom and expressed frustration at the alleged safety lapses.
The incident deeply impacted the local community, and the hearing has become a focal point for examining accountability in workplace and event safety standards.
The hearing is scheduled to conclude on Nov. 15, with significant public attention on both the court’s findings and the manufacturer’s testimony.