Rosemary Anne Gamble, the owner of Taz-Zorb, is accused of workplace safety breaches over the incident in northwest Tasmania on December 16, 2021.
Six children – Zane Mellor, Peter Dodt, Jalailah Jayne-Maree Jones, Addison Stewart, Jye Sheehan and Chace Harrison – were killed after a wind gust lifted the castle into the air.
Three other children were seriously injured.
Gamble has pleaded not guilty to failing to comply with health and safety duties and will face a hearing in Devonport Magistrates Court from November 5.
During an administrative hearing on Friday, her lawyer Chris Dockray asked the magistrate what facilities would be available.
“I think it would be helpful if the court could give some indication (about) what measures might be put in place for the security of Ms Gamble,” he said.
“At least inside the court, where the court has control, and perhaps ... outside the court.
“It’s going to be challenging for her and there is a lot of emotion in the case, justifiably so.
“The defence would need a room where we could have privacy and a place where Ms Gamble might be able to hibernate away when she is not required during the court proceedings.”
A mother of one of the children killed lashed out verbally at Gamble during her first court appearance in February, calling her a “heartless bitch”.
Magistrate Duncan Fairley said he would talk to court staff about security procedures.
Gamble’s defence team has prepared a 600-page engineering report, the court was told.
Prosecutor Madeleine Wilson said she expected the hearing, likely to run for two weeks, to spend “quite a lot” of time on very technical engineering evidence.
Expert reports are being prepared after the jumping castle was inspected.
Fairley listed another administrative hearing for October 18 to ensure hearing preparations, including obtaining a Mandarin interpreter for one witness, remained on track.
Gamble, who was charged in November, allegedly failed to ensure the anchorage system was sufficient to prevent the castle from lifting.
She arrived at the school with two workers, and set up the castle and zorb balls.
Gamble is accused of failing to provide the workers with information including the manufacturer’s operating manual for the castle.
According to court documents, seven students were on the castle when a “significant” weather event caused it to become dislodged.
They fell from the castle, while a blower attached to the castle to keep it inflated struck a nearby student.
Among the alleged breaches, Gamble is accused of failing to ensure there was a peg at each anchor point in line with the manufacturer’s instructions.
AAP
