Court stoush over Hillcrest inquest documents ongoing

April 17, 2023 03:02 PM AEST | By AAPNEWS
 Court stoush over Hillcrest inquest documents ongoing
Image source: AAPNEWS

An inquest into the deaths of six children in a primary school jumping castle tragedy in Tasmania remains stalled amid an ongoing battle over document access.

Zane Mellor, Peter Dodt, Jalailah Janyne-Marie Jones, Addison Stewart, Jye Sheehan and Chace Harrison were killed following the incident at Hillcrest Primary School on December 16, 2021.

They were enjoying celebrations on the final day of term when a wind gust lifted the castle and several inflatable Zorb balls into the air.

Preparations for a coronial inquest were paused in February because WorkSafe Tasmania refused to pass on crucial documents to the coroner.

The workplace safety regulator commenced Supreme Court action to prevent the documents from being released, arguing doing so could prejudice their ongoing investigations and potential prosecutions.

Justice Michael Brett told the court on Monday he was satisfied there was an "arguable case".

He said 17 documents had been identified as part of an affidavit and would attract public interest immunity.

Justice Brett indicated the incident was still under investigation and the brief which had been referred to the Director of Public Prosecutions hadn't gone "past that point".

He adjourned the matter for an administrative listing on April 27. 

In February, Coroner Olivia McTaggart adjourned the inquest indefinitely, saying it was unable to progress without the documents which include engineer and geotechnical expert reports.

"Unfortunately WorkSafe have chosen to take action to, at this stage, prevent disclosure of crucial material that I need to progress the inquest," she said at the time.

"My obligation is to obtain all relevant information."

WorkSafe Tasmania executive director Robyn Pearce said the investigation was "unprecedented" and the file contained more than 40,000 documents.

Three children also suffered serious injuries in the incident, which was described at a pre-inquest hearing as a "mini-tornado" wind event.

A public ceremony was held in Devonport late last year to mark the one-year anniversary.


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