There was shock, disbelief and anger in a Tasmanian courtroom after a magistrate dismissed a charge against the woman who set up the jumping castle at the Hillcrest Primary School tragedy.
Six children were killed in the December 2021 incident when a dust devil lifted the jumping castle into the air.
The tragic incident saw an outpouring of grief in the community near Devonport and across Tasmania.
Rosemary Anne Gamble, trading as Taz-Zorb, was today found not guilty by Magistrate Robert Webster of failing to comply with a health and safety duty.
Prosecutors alleged Ms Gamble had not adequately anchored the castle, but Ms Gamble's defence argued nothing could have been done to prevent the tragedy.
In his decision, he said the dust devil that lifted the castle was "unforeseeable" and Ms Gamble's actions "made no difference to the ultimate outcome".
Families cried out and shook their heads in the courtroom when the outcome was read out by Mr Webster.
Families in disbelief
Andrew Dodt, whose son Peter Dodt was killed in the incident, said he was broken.
"I've been broken for a long time and I think I'm going to be broken for a lot more," he said outside court.
"I thank you for walking the path with us. It was a very long path … we've still got a long way to go.
"Our hopes are just shattered now, at the end of the day all I wanted was an apology for my son not coming home and I'm never going to get it and that kills me."
Georgie Burt, mother of Zane Mellor said she was "deeply disappointed in the Tasmanian justice system".
"This outcome does not reflect the weight of our loss, nor the reality we live with every single day."
Magistrate points to 'unforeseeable' weather event
In his 135-page decision, Magistrate Webster wrote that the failure of the anchorage system, as suggested by the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), had not been proven beyond reasonable doubt.
Ms Gamble and her partner, Robert Monte, had used pegs to tether the castle at four of its eight anchor points.
Magistrate Webster said the freak nature of the "dust devil was impossible to predict".
"As the DPP properly conceded, the dust devil was unforeseen and unforeseeable.
"Ms Gamble could have done more or taken further steps. However, given the effects of the unforeseen and unforeseeable dust devil, had she done so, that would sadly have made no difference to the ultimate outcome."
Rosemary Gamble 'can only imagine the pain'
Speaking outside the court, Ms Gamble's lawyer Bethan Frake read a statement on her behalf.
"I want to say that I accept how deeply and tragically this incident impacted so many people and families," the statement reads.
"I realise those scars will remain for an extremely long time, likely forever.
"There are no words to describe how I have felt ever since that tragic incident took so much away from so many people and left nothing but heartbreak and emptiness in its place.
"I am a mother. I can only imagine the pain that other parents are living with each and every day because of this terrible thing that happened. Their loss is something I will carry with me for the rest of my life."
[LIVE MOMENT]How did we get here?
The distressing details and timeline of the tragedy were examined in detail during a two-week hearing in November.
The court heard Ms Gamble owned Taz-Zorb, a business that dealt in inflatable amusement devices, and was contracted by the Hillcrest Primary School for its end-of-school-year celebrations on the day of the tragedy.
That morning, she and her partner Robert Monte set up their operation on the school's oval, and students began queuing for their turn on the couple's crayon-themed jumping castle.
About 10am, a fierce wind, described by some witnesses as a "mini tornado" and by a weather expert as a "dust devil", swept through the school grounds with devastating effect.
It was an otherwise calm and sunny day, and the court heard the couple had used 30-centimetre pegs at four of the castle's eight anchor points to tether it to the ground.
The pegs almost immediately failed when the dust devil struck, lifting the castle high into the air.
Seven children were inside the castle when it was thrown across the oval, and five of them did not survive their resulting injuries.
Another child was waiting in line and died after being struck in the head by the airborne jumping castle blower.
The charge alleged Ms Gamble failed to comply with her duty "in a way that exposed the children to a risk of death or serious injury".
