The second day of the hearing into the tragic jumping castle incident at Hillcrest Primary School has seen graphic evidence presented in court.
Photographs of the blood-stained inflatable from the December 16, 2021, incident were shown to the Devonport Magistrates Court on Wednesday.
Displaying the images taken after police re-inflated the jumping castle, Prosecutor Madeleine Wilson provided details of DNA matches to the children who lost their lives in the tragedy.
The identification caused visible distress among family members present in the courtroom.
Six children—Zane Mellor, Peter Dodt, Jalailah Jayne-Marie Jones, Addison Stewart, Jye Sheehan and Chace Harrison—lost their lives when what witnesses yesterday described as a “mini-tornado” lifted the castle high into the air.
On Wednesday the court also heard evidence from the sales manager of East Inflatables, the China-based manufacturing company that sold the jumping castle.
Speaking from overseas through a translator, he told the court that the number of pegs sent with each jumping castle sold ‘averages four to eight’.
He also told the court that an operating manual was “in general” sent along with each inflatable product.
The prosecution alleges that Rosemary Anne Gamble, the owner of castle operator Taz-Zorb, failed to properly secure the jumping castle by using only four pegs instead of eight.
Gamble’s lawyer told the court she had received only four 30cm long pegs when she purchased the castle and had not been provided with an operating manual, instead downloading one from their website.
According to Australian safety regulations, a minimum of eight pegs is required to secure jumping castles safely.
Gamble has pleaded not guilty to a single charge of failing to comply with a health and safety duty, a Category 2 offence.
The trial is expected to last just over a week and conclude on November 15.
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