Experts on inflatable bouncing castles have given evidence at the hearing into an accident at a Tasmanian primary school in 2021. Six children were killed when the jumping castle became airborne at the end of term celebration. An engineer told the court the castle and its anchoring system were not up to Australian standards.
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00:00An inflatables expert taking the stand on day five of the criminal hearing into a charge
00:08against the operator of a jumping castle that became airborne, killing six children and
00:14seriously injuring three at the Hillcrest Primary School in Devonport in 2021.
00:21Roderick MacDonald telling the Devonport Magistrates Court the jumping castle, the anchorage system
00:26and its operation were not up to Australian standards.
00:31The effect of that was the defeat of the anchorage system, he said, and that the setup was inconsistent.
00:37You don't just play with an engineered system. It's a bit like putting a seatbelt on. You
00:42put it on out of habit. You are consistent with it all of the time. They were changing
00:46the anchorage system as they felt.
00:49The castle's operator, Rosemary Gamble, has pleaded not guilty to failing to comply with
00:54a health and safety duty.
00:56The prosecution alleges she didn't use enough pegs to secure the castle to the ground.
01:01The defence argues she used the four pegs provided by the manufacturer, East Inflatables,
01:07and she sought assurance the castle met Australian standards at the time of purchase.
01:13The court also heard from a geotechnical engineer who said to access Australian standards for
01:18amusement devices, including inflatables, operators had to pay between $150 and $200,
01:26and that the standards needed to be revised to provide clearer guidance.
01:31This courtroom has seen a spectrum of emotions throughout this case, from sadness and despair
01:38to anger and disbelief. Today, as a video showing star pickets that could have been
01:43used being inserted into the ground, a mother left the courtroom saying, doesn't look that
01:48hard to get them in, does it?