Woman whose bouncy castle was blown into air killing six children acquitted

An Australian woman whose bouncy castle was blown into the air, leaving six children dead, has had charges against her dismissed.

A freak gust of wind lifted the inflatable castle about 10 metres into the air, while a number of children were inside.

The accident happened at an end of year fair at Hillcrest Primary School in Devonport, northern Tasmania in December 2021.

Out of the six children killed, five had been inside the castle and one was waiting in a queue and was hit by an inflatable blower. Three other youngsters were seriously injured.

Prosecutors had accused Rosemary Gamble, owner of party equipment company Taz-Zorb, of not anchoring the bouncy castle adequately.

She was charged with failing to comply with a workplace health and safety duty almost two years after the accident and pleaded not guilty.

Earlier today Devonport Magistrates Court dismissed the charges against her.

The verdict has caused anguish among the victim’s families, with some crying out in court, ABC News reports.

Magistrate Robert Webster said the bouncy castle was lifted into the air by an ‘unprecedented weather system, namely a dust devil’.

‘Gamble could have done more or taken further steps however given the effects of the unforeseen and unforeseeable dust devil, had she done so, that would sadly have made no difference to the ultimate outcome,” he said in his decision.

‘In those circumstances I find the charge is not proved. It is therefore dismissed.’

Gamble said she accepted how ‘deeply and tragically this incident impacted so many people and families’.

‘I realise those scars will remain for an extremely long time, likely forever,” she said in a statement to ABC.

‘There are no words to describe how I have felt ever since that tragic incident took so much away from so many people and left nothing but heartbreak and emptiness in its place.

‘I never meant for something like this to happen. And I am just so sorry that it did.’

Those killed in the tragedy were all aged between 11 and 21. They were: Chace Harrison, Jalailah Jayne-Maree Jones, Zane Mellor, Addison Stewart, Jye Sheehan and Peter Dodt.

Peter’s father Andrew Dodt told ABC he had been ‘broken for a long time’.

‘And I think I’m going to be broken for a lot more.’

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