Arabic version: تحقيق هيلكريست يستمع إلى إفادة الشرطة بشأن الصدمة
According to ABC News, Tasmania Police Assistant Commissioner Adrian Bodnar told the coronial inquest into the Hillcrest Primary School jumping castle tragedy that the trauma experienced by officers was the same as during the 1996 Port Arthur massacre, despite the incidents being different. Bodnar gave evidence before coroner Olivia McTaggart in Devonport on Friday.
Six children — Addison Stewart, Chace Harrison, Jye Sheehan, Jalailah Jayne-Maree Jones, Peter Dodt and Zane Mellor — died in the 2021 tragedy. Three classmates were seriously injured when a freak wind gust tossed a jumping castle across the school oval during an end-of-year celebration. The children were in grades 5 and 6.
Bodnar, a 36-year police veteran who was not at Hillcrest on the day, said he reviewed about two hours of officers’ body-worn camera footage while preparing for the inquest. He described the scene as chaotic, with mayhem in the early stages of the crisis, and said viewing the footage brought back memories of attending Port Arthur, where 35 people died. He said he was proud of police and paramedics who provided first aid and life-saving assistance.
The assistant commissioner also apologised to Zane Mellor’s mother, Georgie Burt, after the court heard she did not have the same opportunity as another family to spend time with her child on the oval. Bodnar said Zane had been misidentified by a member of the school’s teaching staff and described the circumstances as particularly sad.
He said the event has continued to carry a significant human and financial cost for Tasmania Police. Eleven officers have lodged workers’ compensation claims since the tragedy, with 10 accepted. Five officers were away from work, four had left the force and one had returned to duty. Bodnar said $7.93 million had been spent on settlements and ongoing medical treatment. The inquest was adjourned for mention on October 9 in the Hobart Magistrates Court and is expected to reconvene in Devonport in the first week of November.
