In brief
A magistrate concluded that an unpredictable weather phenomenon was responsible for the incident, leaving grieving families devastated by the ruling.
In December 2021, a fun day at Hillcrest Primary School in Devonport turned into tragedy when a bouncy castle was swept into the air by strong winds, resulting in the deaths of six young children, aged between 11 and 12. The operator, Rosemary Anne Gamble, of Taz-Zorb, faced charges for not securing the inflatable adequately. However, the court determined that the incident was due to an unforeseen dust devil — a whirl of air that the operator could not have anticipated.The verdict, delivered on Friday, left the families of the victims devastated. Andrew Dodt, father of one of the deceased children, expressed his anguish, stating, "Our hopes are just shattered now. All I wanted was an apology for my son not coming home... and I'm never going to get it." Despite acknowledging that Gamble could have taken additional precautions, Magistrate Robert Webster asserted that any such measures would not have altered the tragedy's outcome. "Given the effects of the unforeseen and unforeseeable dust devil... that would have made no difference to the ultimate outcome," he explained.The six children who lost their lives that day were identified as Addison Stewart, Zane Mellor, Jye Sheehan, Jalailah Jayne-Maree Jones, Peter Dodt, and Chace Harrison. The incident sent shockwaves through the close-knit community of Devonport, which has a population of around 30,000. The emotional scars left by the accident are expected to linger long after the trial's conclusion. Gamble’s lawyer acknowledged the pain felt by the families of the victims, stating, “Their loss is something I will carry with me for the rest of my life."
