Two fairground workers convicted of gross negligence manslaughter after bouncy castle death

Two fairground workers have been found guilty of gross negligence manslaughter after the death of a seven-year-old girl who was swept away in a bouncy castle.

Summer Grant died when the fairground castle she was playing in was picked up by strong winds and sent “cartwheeling” 300 yards down a hill at an Easter fair in Harlow, Essex, on 26 March, 2016.

Fairground worker William Thurston, 29, and his wife Shelby Thurston, 26, both denied manslaughter by gross negligence and a health and safety offence following the incident.

Summer Grant’s mother, Cara Blackie, appeared tearful as she left the courtroom before the end of the hearing, while Summer’s father, Lee Grant, stayed in the room.

Relatives of the defendants gasped and sobbed as the verdicts were read out.

Mrs Thurston left the courtroom in tears, while her husband cried as he hugged a family member.

The judge at Chelmsford Crown Court, Mr Justice Garnham, said he would be “seriously considering imprisonment” when the couple, from Wilburton near Ely in Cambridgeshire, are sentenced at a later date.

Mrs Thurston had told the court the operating instructions for the bouncy castle had been destroyed in a fire after they had been at another fairground.

She and her husband were accused of failing to adequately anchor the bouncy castle and of not monitoring the weather situation closely.

“Summer was playing in a bouncy castle that was one of the fair’s attractions run by these two defendants,” Tracy Ayling QC told the court.

“While Summer was in the bouncy castle, it blew away from its moorings (and) bounced 300 metres down a hill. Having hit a tree, it came to rest.”

Summer’s father heard a scream and ran after the bouncy castle but it was moving too fast for him to catch it, Ms Ayling said.

“He turned and saw that the dome inflatable had lifted into the air (and) appeared to hit a caravan before flipping over,” the prosecutor told the court.

“He said ‘my daughter’s in there’.”

Mr Thurston had told the trial of the “slight sense of disbelief” he felt as he saw the bouncy castle lift “suddenly” and described it as the “worst thing I’ve ever seen”.

He said he had “no scientific way” of gauging wind speeds and agreed he had been trained to observe things like “fluttering leaves on trees” to monitor the weather.

Speaking to reporters following the hearing, Detective Chief Inspector Daniel Stoten said justice had been served.

He said: “I thought to myself, ‘am I happy with this result?’ And I am happy that justice has been served but from this case falls a number of victims – tragically Summer Grant, her family and the Thurstons’ wider family as well.

“Lots of people will be deeply affected by this incident.”

The officer said the girl’s parents were “pleased” and “relieved” at the result, adding: “I don’t think it’s really quite set in at the moment. They’ve asked to be given some time to come to terms with this result.

“They’ve displayed such a huge amount of dignity – I don’t know how they’ve done it.”

He said there was “room for more enforcement” when it came to the regulation around bouncy castles but did not think there was a need for a change in the law.

(c) Sky News 2018: Two fairground workers convicted of gross negligence manslaughter after bouncy castle death