A judge is expected to decide whether a coroner investigating the deaths of six children in a jumping castle tragedy in Tasmania can access crucial documents.

Hillcrest Primary School students Zane Mellor, Peter Dodt, Jalailah Janyne-Maree Jones, Addison Stewart, Jye Sheehan and Chace Harrison were killed during end-of-year celebrations on December 16, 2021.

Preparations for a coronial inquest were paused in February because workplace safety regulator WorkSafe Tasmania refused to pass on evidence to the coroner.

WorkSafe Tasmania launched legal action to prevent the documents being released, arguing doing so could prejudice ongoing investigations and potential prosecutions.

A Supreme Court of Tasmania judge is expected to deliver his judgment on Tuesday.

The court has been told the documents include an engineer’s report and statements of three TaZorb employees and two department of education staff.

Under Tasmania’s workplace safety laws, prosecutions can only be brought within two years of an incident, meaning there is a December deadline.

WorkSafe Tasmania executive director Robyn Pearce has described the investigation as “unprecedented” with a file of more than 40,000 documents.

A public ceremony was held in Devonport last year to mark the one-year anniversary.

Three children also suffered serious injuries in the incident, which was described at a pre-inquest hearing as a “mini-tornado” wind event.

– AAP

The post Decision expected in Hillcrest document legal stoush appeared first on The New Daily.