Ava-May Littleboy was with family in Gorleston-on-Sea when the tragedy happened
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The owner of a beach inflatable has been jailed for six months following the death of a three-year-old girl who was killed when it exploded.
Ava-May Littleboy suffered a fatal head injury after being thrown in the air when an inflatable trampoline blew up at Gorleston-on-Sea in Norfolk in 2018.
Curt Johnson and his company Johnsons Funfair Ltd had both previously admitted two counts of breaching health and safety laws.
Johnson was sentenced at Chelmsford Magistrates’ Court, where he was also ordered to pay costs to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and Great Yarmouth Borough Council (GYBC) totalling more than £300,000.
Ava-May, from Lower Somersham in Suffolk, was with family at the beach when she was taken on to the trampoline.
The three-year-old was thrown into the air when the inflatable trampoline exploded
Witnesses described her being thrown “higher than a house” when the inflatable burst and that she appeared to be unconscious before she hit the ground.
One other child, aged nine, was on the inflatable but did not sustain “significant physical injury”, GYBC previously said.
In 2020, an inquest jury concluded no procedure was in place to safely manage the trampoline’s inflation, that it had not been checked by an independent third party and had no instruction manual.
Curt Johnson appeared for a sentencing hearing at Chelmsford Magistrates Court on Friday
Parents Nathan Rowe and Chloe Littleboy described a “bright, funny, beautiful girl” and said they hoped “people see the serious risks these attractions can pose”.
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19 March 2020