Deadly bouncy castle ‘driven off before cops could inspect it’

A BOUNCY castle that took off in high winds, killing a little girl inside, was removed before police could investigate, a court heard yesterday.

Moments after seven-year-old Summer Grant was pulled dying from the giant inflatable, which cartwheeled nearly 300 metres before hitting a tree, it was allegedly loaded on to a trailer and driven off.

When police arrived, they were said to be angry that the scene of a serious incident had been interfered with. Chelmsford Crown Court heard the attraction at an Easter fair in Harlow, Essex, was not anchored properly on a day when gusts hit 40mph on March 26, 2016. It was not meant to be used in winds of more than 19mph.

Witness Kyle Ramm told jurors: ‘The ambulance arrived in minutes. I saw that people from the fair had started to pack the castle up on to the trailer of a 4x4.

‘Shortly after the castle was removed police arrived and they appeared to be cross that the scene had been moved.’

Summer and her sister, Lily, then five, were living with their mother, but had gone to Harlow to visit their father, Lee.

The inflatable’s owners, William Thurston, 29, and his wife Shelby, 26, of Wilburton, Cambridgeshire, deny manslaughter by gross negligence.

Mrs Thurston also denies a charge under the Health and Safety Act for failing to anchor the inflatable and monitor weather conditions, while her husband denies failing to discharge his duties under the same act. The case continues.