Owner of inflatable that exploded and killed 3-year-old Ava-May Littleboy is jailed

The owner of an inflatable trampoline which exploded, killing a three-year-old girl has been jailed for six months for health and safety offences. Ava-May Littleboy died after she was thrown into the air after the trampoline equipment failed on Gorleston beach in Norfolk.

A witness told Chelmsford Magistrates’ Court the three-year-old went the "height of a house". Pascal Bates, for Great Yarmouth Borough Council, which brought the prosecution together with the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), said Ava-May suffered serious head injuries and died in July 2018.

Mr Bates said witnesses described her being thrown up to 40ft in the air, with one saying she went “higher than the surrounding buildings”. Adding that a second girl, aged nine-years-old, who had been on the trampoline suffered “no significant injuries”.

The inflatable's owner, Curt Johnson, showed no reaction as he was sentenced on Friday (November 10) to six months in prison. District judge, Christopher Williams, said Johnson was “wilfully blind to the risk” and that the inflatable “should not have been in use”.

The judge continued: “This is a case that’s of such seriousness that I have to conclude a deterrent sentence is necessary. I reflect on the suffering and anguish the family have been through. Ultimately a child unnecessarily lost their life because of failures on your part to ensure you had appropriate risk assessments in place.”

Mr Johnson was also disqualified from being a company director for five years and ordered to pay combined fines of £300,000 to the Health and Safety Executive and Great Yarmouth Borough Council, who brought the prosecution against him.

Both Johnson and the company, Johnsons Funfair Ltd, for which he acted as operations manager, admitted to importing an inflatable trampoline they failed to ensure was safe. They also both pleaded guilty to failing to ensure people not in their employment were not exposed to risks, while admitting a user’s manual for the trampoline “was never supplied or sought prior to the explosion”.

Oliver Campbell KC, for Johnson, said both he and his wife “deeply regret” the incident and Ava-May’s “tragic death”. Mr Campbell said: “He apologises sincerely to the court and the family for his failings”, adding the company had “ceased trading some time ago and will not trade again”. He also revealed that in 2018, Johnson tried to kill himself by overdose, “has suffered from depression thereafter” and had received threats.

Ava-May’s parents, who sat in the public gallery, hugged after the sentence was passed as wider members of the family wiped tears from their eyes. Her father, Nathan Rowe, said outside court that it was the “right decision” and a “massive weight lifted from our shoulders” when Johnson was jailed, saying "justice is being done”.