Mother of Boy Killed in Jumping Castle Tragedy Barred From School Oval

Nearly five years after Georgie Burt lost her son, Zane Mellor, in the Hillcrest Primary School jumping castle disaster, she is hoping the long-awaited inquest will help bring about lasting improvements to child safety.

The first week of hearings in Tasmania concluded on Friday, as the inquiry began examining the events surrounding the tragedy and the response that followed.

On December 16, 2021, Zane was taking part in an end-of-year celebration with classmates at the school near Devonport in Tasmania’s northwest. A sudden ‘mini-tornado’ swept across the grounds, lifting the jumping castle and other inflatable equipment into the air.

The 12-year-old was thrown from the castle as it rose 16m above the oval before landing about 60m away.

Five other students — Addison Stewart, Chace Harrison, Jye Sheehan, Jalailah Jayne-Maree Jones and Peter Dodt — also died. The children were in grades 5 or 6.

Three more children suffered serious injuries in the jumping castle accident.

The inquest has heard accounts of desperate attempts by paramedics, police and hospital workers to save the children, along with descriptions of a scene marked by confusion and disorder.

Giving evidence, Ms Burt said she rushed to Hillcrest Primary School but could not find Zane among the chaos.

She was later told that he had been taken to nearby Mersey Community Hospital.

When she arrived, Ms Burt was informed that Zane had died. However, she could not see him because his body had already been taken to another location.

She later learned that her son had died on the school’s oval, rather than at the hospital.

Ms Burt told the inquest she did not see Zane’s body until three days after the tragedy, when she attended a funeral home.

Tasmania Police assistant commissioner Adrian Bodnar apologised to Ms Burt on Friday, acknowledging that she had not been permitted to enter the school oval while families of some other victims had been allowed access.

Dean Wotherspoon, a veteran constable and the lead forensic investigator, also conceded that police ‘could have done better’ in their handling of the aftermath.

The inquiry is expected to consider how the castle was installed by operator Taz-Zorb, whether national safety standards were followed and if the Tasmanian Education Department failed in its responsibilities.

‘I don’t think there will ever be a complete amount of closure when it comes to losing our children,’ Ms Burt said after the opening day of the inquest.

Rosemary Gamble, the operator of Taz-Zorb, was charged over alleged criminal workplace safety breaches but was found not guilty in 2025.

The magistrate ruled Ms Gamble could have taken further steps regarding the castle’s anchorage but even if she had, it would not have changed the outcome.

It was ruled the ‘dust devil’ wind event was impossible to predict.

Recent jumping castle accidents elsewhere in Australia were further proof improved standards were needed, Ms Burt said. 

In early September, five children were taken to hospital after jumping castles were picked up by winds in separate incidents on the same day in Victoria and NSW. 

‘I hope for better protocols. I hope for law change. I hope people can have a really good look,’ Ms Burt said.

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Zane was remembered at the inquest as witty and cheeky, with a zest for adventure and love for video games. 

The coroner is assessing a request from families’ lawyers to make school staff give evidence at the inquest. 

‘Families are desperate for information and this might be their last chance,’ their lawyer Peter Hamilton said. 

‘They felt shut out on the day and at the hospital. They then felt shut out from getting much-needed answers from the school.’ 

Greta Chen, lawyer representing the state, said some of the staff in question had post-traumatic stress disorder and had answered questions sufficiently via statements. 

Police evidence indicates the castle was held down with pegs at four of its eight anchorage points, while a Zorb ball barrier was held down with pegs at six of 32 points. 

The inquest was shown pegs and star pickets in the back of a Taz-Zorb trailer at the school, which Const Wotherspoon said were ‘readily available’ for use. 

Const Wotherspoon said in his professional opinion, which included decades of search-and-rescue operations, the castle was insufficiently tethered. 

Tasmanian Health Service executive Paula Hyland told the inquest issues in identifying the children had hampered the information flow to parents. 

However, it did not affect the care they received, she said. 

More than 40 paramedics and aeromedical staff responded, with Ambulance Tasmania boss Nicole Ashworth indicating nothing more could have been done to change the outcome. 

State forensic pathologist Andrew Reid said he didn’t believe any different medical or surgical interventions could have saved the children. 

The coroner has evidence from witnesses who say the weather was calm and virtually windless on the morning of the tragedy. 

Ms Gamble had successfully set up inflatable equipment at previous end-of-year celebrations at the school, counsel assisting the coroner Maree Norton said during opening submissions. 

Ms Gamble was supervising on the day and had a policy of not operating the castle if winds were tipped to exceed 25km/h, Ms Norton said. 

The Bureau of Meteorology forecast for December 16 was light winds, reaching 15 to 20km/h by the evening, she said. 

Lawyers representing the families, as well as Ms Burt, say the oval was a known windy spot. 

The initial police response was made confusing by a lack of a clear chain of command and some exhibits were not packaged appropriately as evidence, Const Wotherspoon said. 

However, this likely had no material impact on subsequent investigations, he said. 

The inquest will hold further hearings in November and February. 

– READ MORE: Teenager who miraculously survived Hillcrest jumping castle tragedy dies in freak accident 

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