“We Wanted Accountability, Not Excuses”: Bouncy Castle Tragedy Verdict Shatters Families
I still remember when the news first broke in 2021. It was supposed to be a day of laughter, of celebration—an end-of-year fair at Hillcrest Primary School in Devonport, Tasmania. Instead, it became one of the most haunting tragedies Australia has ever seen. A sudden gust of wind—a freak weather event—lifted a bouncy castle into the air. Children, between the ages of 11 and 12, fell 10 metres. Six of them didn’t make it home.
Now, almost four years later, the legal chapter has come to an end—but there’s no sense of closure. The court has found Rosemary Anne Gamble, the operator of the bouncy castle business, not guilty. The judge ruled that the tragic deaths were caused by an “unprecedented weather system,” something no one could have predicted. A dust devil, they called it—an upward whirlwind of air that swept in without warning.
But for the parents, this verdict wasn’t just a legal result. It was a devastating gut punch. Imagine sitting in a courtroom, hoping—just hoping—that someone will be held accountable for the death of your child. And then hearing, essentially, that it was no one’s fault. Parents cried out in disbelief. One father, Andrew Dodt, whose son Peter died that day, said, “All I wanted was an apology... and I’m never going to get it. That kills me.”
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Six beautiful lives were lost: Addison, Zane, Jye, Jalailah, Peter, and Chace. One of them wasn’t even on the castle—he was just standing in line, struck fatally by the blower machine. These were children just beginning to dream, their futures just starting to take shape. And now, those dreams are dust. Their names now live only in memory and heartbreak.
I’m not here to debate the court’s legal reasoning. I understand the law must work within its definitions of proof, liability, and reasonability. But let’s not pretend that the pain ends with the verdict. Rosemary Gamble may have been found not guilty, but the families? They carry a life sentence of grief. She said she’s a mother herself, that she’s sorry, and that this is something she’ll carry with her forever. I believe that. But sorrow is not justice, and empathy is not accountability.
Sometimes, the truth is that a courtroom can’t give us what we need. What these parents needed was to know someone took responsibility. Instead, they got a legal technicality. This wasn’t just a “freak accident”—it was a tragedy that shook a community, changed laws, and devastated families forever.
No court ruling will ever fill the empty spaces at six dinner tables. No explanation will ever bring those children back. And for the parents, the nightmare doesn’t end with the not guilty verdict. It only begins again. Every birthday missed. Every Christmas gone. Every silence where laughter used to be.
That’s what this story is really about. Not just a legal decision. But the unbearable, enduring weight of loss—and a longing for someone to simply say, “This should never have happened.”
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