A Tasmanian company has been charged in relation to the Hillcrest jumping castle tragedy two years ago.
Six children at the Hillcrest primary school died — Zane Mellor, Peter Dodt, Jalailah Jayne-Maree Jones, Addison Stewart, Jye Sheehan, and Chace Harrison — and three were seriously injured after a jumping castle lifted into the air during an end-of-year event.
As the students were playing on the jumping castle and inflatable balls, a gust of wind picked up the inflatables, throwing them up in the air and causing children to fall from the height of about 10 metres, according to eyewitness accounts.
The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) has today filed a complaint in the Devonport Magistrates Court in relation to the incident on December 16, 2021.
"The DPP has charged Taz-Zorb, the operator of the jumping castle, with a Category 2 offence under the Work Health and Safety Act 2012," work health and safety regulator Robyn Pearce said in a statement.
"This offence alleges that the operator failed to comply with a health and safety duty in a way that exposed the children to a risk of death or serious injury."
The decision to lay charges came after a "significant investigation" by staff at WorkSafe Tasmania over many months, she said.
"A large number of documents have been prepared and considered by the investigators and the DPP in order to reach this decision."
Ms Pearce said throughout the past year, she had continued to meet with the families of children who had died or been injured in the incident.
"[I] would again like to express my condolences to each of them," she said.
"As the matter is now before the court, no further information or comment can be provided."
It is not yet known when the matter will be heard in court.
The maximum penalty for a category 2 offence under the Work Health and Safety Act is a $1.5 million fine for a corporation, and a $150,000 fine for an individual.
Families welcome charges
A joint statement on behalf of families of students Zane Mellor, Peter Dodt, Addison Stewart and Jalailah Jayne-Maree Jones welcomed the announcement.
"This was a terrible tragedy that claimed the lives of our beautiful children and which has left others both physically and emotionally impacted," they said.
"We know WorkSafe has worked tirelessly in their investigation into what went wrong on that fateful day and we thank them for their hard work.
"We would like to take this opportunity to thank all of the first responders and medical staff who took care of our children. We would also like to take this opportunity to acknowledge the incredibly brave children who ran to the assistance of their injured friends and classmates."
Georgina Burt, whose son Zane was killed, said "what I and the other families have gone through is awful".
"I am so sad that we have lost children and we can never get them back. There was no chance of survival for my poor son Zane."
"I am glad that Taz-Zorb have been charged. I want justice for my son and the other families impacted and look forward to hearing the outcome of the criminal proceedings and subsequent Coronial inquest."
"I still want answers about the school's involvement in the tragedy. It has been a long-time coming and still not over."
Inquest delay due to refusal to release investigation
A coronial investigation into the children's deaths has been unable to proceed until the WorkSafe Tasmania investigation was completed, and documents provided to the coroner.
Supreme Court Justice Gregory Geason ruled last month he was satisfied the disclosure of documents, including an engineering report and a number of interviews and written responses, could impede WorkSafe Tasmania and the DPP's "function of effectively investigating possible offences".
Coroner Olivia McTaggart has previously said there was "no question" the inquest would commence "as soon as any prosecution has been completed".
https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMibmh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmFiYy5uZXQuYXUvbmV3cy8yMDIzLTExLTE3L2NoYXJnZXMtbGFpZC1hZ2FpbnN0LWhpbGxjcmVzdC1zY2hvb2wtanVtcGluZy1jYXN0bGUtb3BlcmF0b3IvMTAzMTE5ODEw0gEoaHR0cHM6Ly9hbXAuYWJjLm5ldC5hdS9hcnRpY2xlLzEwMzExOTgxMA?oc=5
2023-11-17 04:46:15Z
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