Inquest hears of efforts to save children after jumping castle tragedy

A police officer has told a court the Hillcrest Primary School jumping castle tragedy in north-west Tasmania was nothing like he had seen in almost 30 years in the service.

First Class Constable Dean Wotherspoon gave evidence before Coroner Olivia McTaggart on Wednesday, in the inquest into the deaths of six children who died when a freak wind gust tossed a jumping castle across the school oval during end-of-year celebrations on December 16, 2021.

Years five and six students Addison Stewart, Chace Harrison, Jye Sheehan, Jalailah Jayne-Maree Jones, Peter Dodt and Zane Mellor died in the tragedy, while three of their classmates were seriously injured. 

Constable Wotherspoon told the court he was one of the first police officers on the scene that day, and it was the worst casualty event he had seen since becoming a police officer in 1995.

"It was like nothing I'd seen. Unprecedented, in my career,"

he said.

"I'd never been exposed to another mass casualty event of such scale."

Police officer describes response efforts as 'organised chaos'

Constable Wotherspoon began his evidence by describing the day from the first radio call.

He told the court he was on the scene of a fatal car crash south of Ulverstone when all available resources were called to the school.

Asked to describe the scene upon arrival around 10:30am, he said he had given it thought and considered it to be "organised chaos".

"There were a lot of people doing their utmost to save the children," he said.

"Police officers, school staff, paramedics… were all doing what they could to save the children."

He said the division of responsibility was unclear initially, but that on reflection it would not have been possible for the emergency response to be more clearly coordinated.

"Ambulance Tasmania were obviously dealing with the medical side of it, but it was beyond their resources to provide all that capability," he said.

"The scene was so large and complex at that initial stage I'd suggest it's almost impossible to get complete coordination and appreciation."

Officer says he would have done things differently

Despite the lack of an obvious chain of command, Constable Wotherspoon said he went into a "fight or flight" response and began helping paramedics on the scene.

The counsel assisting the coroner, Maree Norton SC, issued a warning to the court that she was going to begin asking Constable Wotherspoon specific questions about the children he tried to save and how they appeared.

Constable Wotherspoon then discussed the efforts he went to, alongside paramedics, to help save Zane Mellor's life, and what he saw of Peter Dodt and Jalailah Jayne-Maree Jones' condition.

His attention then turned to documenting the scene for forensic examination, and he said some mistakes were made amid the chaos.

He said that included his decision to travel to the Mersey Community Hospital, where the children had been taken, to take forensic photographs of them.

If he had his time again, he told the court, he would have stayed on site.

"I was the crime scene coordinator, it was my duty to coordinate the forensic response,"

he said.

"I should've detached myself from those duties and maintained that coordination role from a forensic perspective."

Constable Wotherspoon also said other mistakes were made, such as by a police officer who moved one of the inflatable Zorb Balls from one side of the oval to the other.

But, he said, he did not believe those mistakes compromised the scene or materially affected the forensic examination.

Coronial inquest to continue beyond tragedy's fifth anniversary

The court has previously heard that Constable Wotherspoon will lead Coroner McTaggart on a view of the tragedy site on Thursday, so the inquest will not be sitting.

It will then resume on Friday, with evidence from another police officer, before adjourning for about two months.

Ms Norton told the court in her opening address that it will resume in blocks in November and February, with evidence from experts in meteorology and geotechnical engineering, as well as a range of other topics.

December 16 this year is the fifth anniversary of the tragedy.