{
  "id": 18252042,
  "title": "Jumping castle owner appears at inquest into Hillcrest 2021 tragedy",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/11/05/jumping-castle-owner-appears-at-inquest-into-hillcrest-2021-tragedy",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-11-05T05:09:41.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "ABC News AU",
    "slug": "abc-news-au",
    "url": "https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-11-05/hillcrest-jumping-castle-inquest-rosemary-gamble/107348170"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Rosemary Gamble, the owner of Taz-Zorb, a business that supplied inflatables for the Hillcrest Primary School event, appeared in a coronial inquest into the 2021 tragedy. Gamble, who operated Taz-Zorb since 2012, was found not guilty of failing in her work health and safety duty following a criminal hearing in 2024. She chose to remain silent during the criminal proceeding and only made a public statement through her lawyer after being acquitted.\n\nThe inquest heard that a dust devil tossed the jumping castle Gamble provided across the school oval, resulting in the death of six students and three more who suffered serious injuries. At the time of the incident, Gamble used four anchor pegs to secure the castle, despite it having eight anchor points, as she believed four pegs were sufficient and provided by the manufacturer, East Inflatables.\n\nThe inquest also heard about the lack of an instruction manual that came with the castle. Gamble had searched the manufacturer's website and found a manual that was very basic, consisting of only one and a half pages. When questioned about the number of anchor pegs and whether she used all eight, Gamble stated that she assumed four pegs were the minimum or adequate for securing the castle. She did, however, use more than four pegs on occasions when the ground was soft or the weather was windy.\n\nThe coronial inquest will continue on Friday, before adjourning until February for a third block of hearings. The fifth anniversary of the Hillcrest tragedy will be marked on December 16.",
  "summary": "The operator of the business that supplied inflatables on the day of the Hillcrest Primary School jumping castle tragedy has appeared as a witness in the coronial inquest.",
  "key_points": [
    "Rosemary Gamble, Taz-Zorb owner, appeared in coronial inquest",
    "Dust devil tossed jumping castle, killing 6 students",
    "Gamble used 4 anchor pegs despite 8 available, believed 4 sufficient"
  ],
  "editors_take": "The inquest highlights how inadequate manufacturer instructions and personal assumptions regarding equipment safety protocols can create fatal vulnerabilities for schools hosting outdoor inflatable activities.",
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}