Frantic chase after bouncy castle that flew 50ft into air with girl stuck inside
A FATHER has described the moment he chased a bouncy castle that blew “30ft to 50ft in the air” with his sevenyear-old daughter trapped inside.
Lee Grant desperately ran after the inflatable as it “cartwheeled” 300 yards down a hill, but he was unable to catch it. His daughter, Summer, was eventually pulled free after the castle hit a tree. She was taken to hospital but died from her injuries.
Chelmsford Crown Court heard that the Circus Superdome was “not properly anchored to the ground” despite a yellow weather warning and wind speeds reaching up to 40mph.
William Thurston, 29, and his wife Shelby Thurston, 26, two fairground workers, have denied a joint charge of manslaughter by gross negligence.
Mr Grant, from Harlow, Essex, fought back tears as he described how he had taken Summer and her younger sister, Lily, then five, to Thurston’s Fun Fair in March 2016.
He said Summer and Lily had both played on the dome first, then the nearby inflatable slide, then Summer went back on the dome alone “as she preferred that one”.
Mr Grant told the jury: “I just heard my mum scream ‘no’ and I looked over and the bouncy castle, within seconds, had blown away. I remember shouting ‘My daughter is on that bouncy castle’.
“I just saw some cable fly over or some rope that held it down. I remember it blowing over some sort of caravan and kept on going over the field, just rolling and rolling.
“I think it hit a tree, at the end of the field it came to a halt and hit the fence. I couldn’t find her. I couldn’t find the entrance to the bouncy castle as it had deflated by the time it reached the end.” He added: “Somebody went in and got her and pulled her body up. An ambulance was called by somebody. I don’t know who.”
The court heard that a “shaken” Mr Thurston ran down the hill and pulled Summer from the attraction.
The court heard that health and safety guidelines state that inflatables should not be used at wind speeds over 19mph. But a meteorologist said wind speeds that day reached between 35mph and 40mph.
Jurors also heard that the bouncy castle did not conform with safety standards, with “an “insufficient number of ground anchorage points” on the attraction.
Footage captured by Summer’s aunt showed the little girl playing seconds before it was lifted away. It is alleged that the video shows a stake on the inflatable “was not properly secured”.
The court heard that the Thurstons, from Wilburton, Cambridgeshire, agreed to deflate the big slide as it got windy. Mrs Thurston told the police she planned to let Summer finish her last minutes in the dome, and then take that down, too. Tracy Ayling QC, prosecuting, said that Mrs Thurston had said there was then a “freak tornado type wind – a massive gust that came out of nowhere”.
Ms Ayling told the jury that it was the Thurstons’ responsibility to “take steps to properly monitor the weather conditions”. She added that Mrs Thurston had said she was “addicted” to the Met Office mobile phone app because the business relied on it.
The trial continues.