00:01Today the Hillcrest Primary School tragedy inquest heard from a teacher who was there
00:07on the day of the tragedy. He had been a teacher at the Hillcrest Primary School for about 21 years
00:13up until December 16, 2021. On the day he was supervising the queue of children as they waited
00:21to get on the jumping castle. He told the court today that he watched the wind come across the
00:27school oval across the gazebo where he was standing and lift the jumping castle into the air but he
00:34didn't actually see that happen because the dust devil, the mini tornado brought up such so much
00:41debris and grass that his view was completely obstructed. It lasted for about 10 or 15 seconds
00:47and when it subsided the jumping castle was nowhere to be seen. He then talked about how in the
00:53aftermath with the injured children surrounding him on the grass he went to resuscitate and help
01:02provide first aid for those that he could although sadly unsuccessfully. Once police arrived he was
01:10asked as a teacher to go to the Mersey Community Hospital at La Trobe about 15 minutes down the road
01:16where he was asked to identify tragically the bodies of the child victims. He spoke about how distressing
01:24that was for him in the moment, how he had interactions with parents at the hospital and also of how
01:31the
01:31tragedy has continued to affect him in his life in the five years since it occurred. He said he was
01:38unable to return to
01:39work and that it forced his retirement about three years earlier than he had initially planned. It has affected
01:45his relationships, his mental health and that the joy of life has been significantly reduced. Also this week in the
01:52inquest we are expecting to hear from jumping castle operator Rosemary Gamble who will be questioned on the
01:59jumping castle she bought from Chinese inflatables company East Inflatables. She will be asked about the
02:05instruction manual she was provided and the relevant Australian safety standards but the court heard
02:12that those are not legally enforceable. A Tasmania police, a retired Tasmania police detective inspector
02:20Kim Stephen will also be called to give evidence this week. This is the second of two weeks of hearings
02:27the inquest has heard so far, the first being four days of evidence in September. We have these three days
02:35occurring this week and in February. The inquest will resume here at the Paranapple Centre in Devonport.
