Innocent jumping castle operator addresses families upset by trial outcome.

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The operator of a jumping castle at the centre of a deadly tragedy has spoken after a court’s not guilty verdict, as the families of six children who died say they are “deeply disappointed” in the justice system.

Six children — Chace Harrison, Addison Stewart, Jye Sheehan, Zane Mellor, Jalailah Jayne-Maree Jones and Peter Dodt — died, and another three children were seriously injured when a gust of wind lifted a jumping castle into the air and tossed it across the school oval at Hillcrest Primary School in Devonport, Tasmania, during end-of-year celebrations in 2021.

Rosemary Anne Gamble, the owner of Taz-Zorb, which set up the equipment, was accused of failing to anchor the castle property. She had pleaded not guilty.

Gamble was found not guilty of breaching workplace safety laws by Magistrate Robert Webster in Devonport Magistrates Court on Friday.

“I am not satisfied beyond reasonable doubt of Ms Gamble’s guilt to the charge in the complaint,” Webster said when handing down the decision.

“In those circumstances, I find the charge is not proved, it is therefore dismissed.”

A woman wearing a red shirt places a teddy bear on a memorial of many bunches of flowers on the ground outside

Six children died in the Hillcrest Primary School jumping castle tragedy on 16 December 2021. Source: AAP / Bianca De Marchi

Gamble ‘terribly sorry’; families ‘shattered’

Friday’s verdict brought a close to a lengthy justice process. It took two years from the incident for Gamble to be charged, and roughly another 12 months for the matter to reach a 10-day hearing before Webster in November.

In a statement read by her lawyer Bethan Frake outside the court, Gamble said she accepted “how deeply and tragically this incident has impacted so many people and families”.

“I realise these scars will remain for an extremely long time, likely forever,” Gamble said. “There are no words to describe how I have felt ever since the tragic incident took so much away from so many people and left nothing but heartbreak and emptiness in its place.”

The statement continued that Gamble, as a mother, “can only imagine the pain that other parents are living with each and every day because this terrible thing that happened”.

“There is not a moment that goes by where I don’t feel so painfully and terribly sorry to every single one of those people that were impacted and continue to grieve for their loved ones.”

Those who lost their children expressed anger and disbelief at the ruling.

In a statement read by Georgina Burt, whose son Zane Mellor died, the families said they were “deeply disappointed in the Tasmanian justice system”.

“There is a profound gap between what we know to be true and what the system was willing to recognise today,” they said. “This outcome does not reflect the weight of our loss, nor the reality that we live with every day.”

They said the system “doesn’t just fail our families, it fails justice itself”.

A group of people walking down stairs. Two are crying.

Georgie Burt (centre) — the mother of Zane Mellor, one of the six children who died in the accident. Families expressed anger and disbelief at the decision. Source: AAP / Ethan James

Andrew Dodt, the father of Peter Dodt, said he had been broken for a long time.

“Our hopes are just shattered now,” he said.

“At the end of the day all I wanted was an apology for my son not coming home and I’m never going to get it and that kills me.”

Earlier inside the courtroom after the decision was handed down, Burt yelled at Gamble: “I hope you see them every time I miss a birthday, miss a Christmas.”

The magistrate’s decision

During the 10-day hearing in November, the defence had argued the freak weather event that occurred, known by some as a “dust devil”, was unpredictable, and the only thing that could have prevented the tragedy was not holding the event at all.

In delivering his decision on Friday, Webster said Gamble “in some respects” failed to comply with her health and safety duties.

“However I am not satisfied, pursuant to (the charge) those failures were a substantial or significant cause of the children being exposed to the risk of serious injury or death,” he said.

It had been alleged Gamble had only used pegs at four of the castle’s eight anchor points, despite the manufacturer’s instructions recommending eight.

A man sitting on a bench is comforted by a woman.

Andrew Dodt (right), whose son Peter died in the accident. He said the decision left the hopes of families “shattered”. Source: AAP / Ethan James

Her lawyer Chris Dockray had argued she had been left out to dry by the castle’s Chinese manufacturer.

East Inflatables didn’t provide instructions to Gamble when she bought the jumping castle and only supplied four pegs, Dockray said.

She instead downloaded a two-page manual from the company’s website, he said, which resulted in an interpretation that four pegs were sufficient.

Webster said the incident occurred due to an unprecedented weather system, namely a dust devil which was “impossible to predict”.

“Ms Gamble could have done more or taken further steps,” Webster wrote in his 130-page written decision, which has been published online.

“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.”

Coronial proceedings were on hold until the conclusion of the court case and can now resume, but no date has yet been set.

A class action has also been filed in Supreme Court of Tasmania by Maurice Blackburn Lawyers, alleging the state of Tasmania — as operators of the school — and the Taz-Zorb operators failed to take reasonable precautions to ensure the safety of the children taking part in the activities.

The lead plaintiffs are Burt and Dodt.

— With reporting by the Australian Associated Press.