Not guilty finding didn't bring comfort or closure, jumping castle owner says

The owner of the jumping castle at the centre of the Hillcrest Primary School tragedy has said the impact it has had on her life "doesn't seem important" compared to what families have experienced.

For the past two days, Rosemary Gamble has been giving evidence in the coronial inquest into the deaths of six children in Tasmania's north-west almost five years ago.

Students Zane Mellor, Peter Dodt, Jalailah Jayne-Maree Jones, Addison Stewart, Jye Sheehan and Chace Harrison died, and three of their classmates were seriously injured when a dust devil tossed the jumping castle they were playing on across their school oval on December 16, 2021.

Ms Gamble owned the jumping castle and operated the business Taz-Zorb, which had been contracted by the school for its end-of-year 'Big Day In' celebrations.

In 2025, she was found not guilty by Magistrate Robert Webster of the criminal charge of failing in her work health and safety duty over the tragedy.

Lawyers probe safety practices of jumping castle owner

Much of the questioning directed at Ms Gamble has related to how she operated her business and specifically how she secured the jumping castle to the ground when it was being used outdoors.

Throughout her appearance on Thursday, counsel assisting the coroner, Maree Norton SC, displayed for Ms Gamble and the court many photos of various devices that could be used to anchor the jumping castle to the ground.

Various types of pegs and star pickets were displayed, as were photos of instruction manuals produced by the jumping castle's manufacturer, East Inflatables.

Barrister Peter Hamilton, questioning Ms Gamble on Friday morning on behalf of the families, returned to the discussion of anchorage devices and safety procedures.

After discussing this topic for about two hours, Mr Hamilton suggested to Ms Gamble that she was not, in fact, a safety-conscious jumping castle operator.

"Suggest away. I disagree," Ms Gamble responded.

Ms Gamble said she had made efforts to ensure she was operating her jumping castle safely in the six years since she had bought it.

A short time later, Ms Gamble's lawyer Daniel Gurvich KC produced an email from East Inflatables that Ms Gamble said assured her it was manufactured to appropriate safety standards.

"Our products are produced according to Australian standards, even certified by the most strict European standards," the email stated.

"Hence, don't worry about our product quality."

On Thursday, Ms Norton referred to a statement Ms Gamble had provided to the inquest detailing the effects the tragedy had on her life.

Mr Gurvich asked Ms Gamble on Friday morning if there was a reason she did not want to detail those effects in open court.

"The impact it has had on my life is nothing compared to what has happened to those families and children and family friends," Ms Gamble said.

"It just doesn't seem important."

She also said that being found not guilty in the criminal case had brought her no closure or comfort.

Public inquest to resume after tragedy's fifth anniversary

The inquest continues on Friday afternoon with evidence from retired Tasmania Police Detective Inspector Kim Steven, who was on the scene on the day of the tragedy.

It is expected the public hearings of the inquest will then be adjourned for a final week of evidence in February next year.

The fifth anniversary of the tragedy will be marked on Wednesday, December 16.