Jumping castle inquest ‘open to different findings’
Ethan James |
Families of six children killed in a jumping castle tragedy have been told an inquest could make different findings to a probe that cleared the operator of criminal wrongdoing.
Tasmania’s coroners court on Wednesday provided an update on the investigation into the incident at Hillcrest Primary School, in the state’s northwest, in December 2021.
Chace Harrison, Jalailah Jayne-Maree Jones, Zane Mellor, Addison Stewart, Jye Sheehan and Peter Dodt, aged 11 or 12, were killed when a wind gust lifted the castle and inflatable balls.
Preparations for an inquest were put on hold until criminal proceedings against castle operator Rosemary Gamble and her business Taz-Zorb were finalised.
Ms Gamble was in June found not guilty of workplace safety breaches, with a magistrate ruling the “dust devil” was impossible to predict.
Counsel assisting the coroner Maree Norton told the court preparations for the inquest had resumed and the coroner could make different findings to the magistrate.
“The standard of proof at the coronial level is lower than the criminal standard,” she said.
Ms Norton said she was aware the community was anxious for the inquest to be held, but preparations needed to be thorough.
Several of the children’s families dialled-in from Devonport to the session in Hobart Magistrates Court.
A date has not yet been set for the inquest, with another administrative hearing to be held on April 16.
Ms Gamble, who was involved in setting up the inflatable equipment on the school oval, is expected to give evidence at the inquest.
Ms Norton said her team had received more than 3700 files since criminal proceedings ended.
The inquest’s scope will be broader than those proceedings and could include analysis of Tasmanian education department policies around risk and contractor employment, Ms Norton said.
It will be held with the view of preventing further similar incidents and could make recommendations, she said.
The inquest will consider the set-up of the castle and whether the process complied with Australian standards, as well as its anchorage and the “foreseeability” of the wind.
The inquest has faced several hurdles, including a legal stoush between the coroner and the state workplace safety regulator over access to documents prior to Ms Gamble being charged.
Ms Gamble in some respects failed to comply with her health and safety duties, the magistrate ruled in June.
She could have taken further steps in relation to the castle’s anchorage, he said, but even if she had done so it would have made no difference to the outcome.
In a separate court matter, Ms Gamble wants the state government to pay money towards her legal costs, which she has said could run into millions of dollars.
At an early-December hearing she told the court her legal expenses to date had been covered by her insurer.
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