22 hours Ago
The children killed were Chace Harrison, Jalailah Jayne-Maree Jones, Zane Mellor, Addison Stewart, Jye Sheehan, and Peter Dodt. Three other children were seriously hurt in the same incident.
The Managing Director of construction company Taz-Zorb, which was in-charge of installing the equipment, Rosemary Gamble was accused of failing to fulfill her obligations as an employer under workplace health and safety law in failing to properly anchor the castle. However, a magistrate in Devonport magistrates court acquitted her on Friday.
Court Calls Tragedy Unforeseeable
Reading the decision, magistrate Robert Webster said Gamble was not meeting some of her safety duties. But he said her actions did not actually create the danger that resulted in the children’s deaths to any “significant extent.” The botched effort aside, he said, the killer was an extremely rare and random weather phenomenon known as a dust devil.
“Ms Gamble had the opportunity to do more or have more precautions,” Webster wrote in his written decision, “but even with more, the end result would have been the same unfortunately.” He ruled the charge had been dismissed and said that Gamble was free to go.
The verdict set off emotional responses in the courtroom. Zane Mellor’s mother, Georgie Burt, launched an angry tirade at Gamble, yelling “I hope you have to live with that for the rest of your days, every time you don’t make a special event or answer to your kids like birthdays and Christmas.”
Families Mourn, Apology Issued
"Declaring himself as racist was completely unacceptable and warrants the sentence he received, "outside the courtroom, a statement from Gamble read, apologizing for his actions and saying that he was "terribly sorry" for what happened. “That’s never what I intended and it is heartbreaking to me even if it wasn’t what I meant to do. And I am just so sorry that it did,” the statement said. Gamble also stated, “I’m a mom.
I cannot imagine what the parents go through on a daily basis. Their loss is something that will haunt me for the rest of my life.”
His father, Andrew Dodt, said he had been struggling emotionally for some time. “All our hopes are shattered now,” he said. “All I wanted was an apology that my son did not come home. I’m never going to get it, and that kills me.”
Operator Defends the Setup, Inquest Ongoing
The 10-day November trial heard that Gamble had only put pegs into four out of the castle’s eight anchor points, despite the manufacturer’s instructions stating that all would need to be used. Her lawyer, Chris Dockray, said the manufacturer, East Inflatables, supplied only four pegs and did not provide instruction on how to set it up when the order was placed. According to Gamble, she downloaded a manual from the company’s website — which was only 2 pages long — and believed that four pegs were enough.
Seven students were on the inflatable when the strong wind heaved it into the air, according to court documents. As the castle was freed, the children plunged, and a blower to keep the castle inflated struck another student nearby.
The criminal case had put plans for a formal inquest on hold, while a class action lawsuit has also been launched against Gamble and the state of Tasmania.
