Fairground workers found guilty of causing death of seven-year-old girl when bouncy castle blew away

Judge 'seriously considering imprisonment' for married couple

Summer Grant’s parents paid tribute to the ‘bright, beautiful and most loving little girl’ (PA)

Fairground workers have been convicted of causing the death of a seven-year-old girl who was killed when the bouncy castle she was playing on blew away.

Summer Grant had gone to the funfair in Harlow, Essex, with family including her father and five-year-old sister, Lily, in March 2016.

Married couple William Thurston, 29, and Shelby Thurston, 26, were running the bouncy castle for employer Thurston’s Funfairs at the time.

Chelmsford Crown Court heard that wind speeds had been increasing through the day, with the highest gusts hitting 35-40mph by the late afternoon.

But the couple continued to let children on the bouncy castle without ensuring that it was safely secured to the ground.

The Thurstons had already shut an inflatable slide and said they were going to do the same for the bouncy castle but waited for Summer to finish her turn on the “Circus SuperDome”.

Moments later the wind lifted it into the air and pulled it away from its moorings, 300m down a hill.

Summer’s father, Lee Grant, told the court how he chased the bouncy castle and found it deflated on the ground with his daughter inside.

Shelby and William Thurston were found guilty of gross negligence manslaughter over the death of seven-year-old Summer Grant (PA)

“I just heard my mum scream ‘no’ and within seconds it blew away,” he said. “I just saw some sort of cable flying in the air and it just blew away.

“I remember it blowing over some sort of caravan and kept on going over the field. I started running after the bouncy castle down the field.”

Mr Grant, whose daughters had been visiting from their home in Norwich, described it flying up to 50ft (15m) in the air before “rolling and rolling”, appearing to hit a tree and eventually coming to a halt at a fence.

Summer was taken to hospital but died from her injuries hours later.

Shelby Thurston told the court that as she tried to comfort Lily and her grandmother, Lily told her: “I think Summer's poorly."

Her husband described the incident as the “worst thing I've ever seen”.

He admitted he had “no scientific way” of gauging wind speeds on the day, when a yellow Met Office weather warning was in place ahead of Storm Katie.

Summer's mother, Cara Blackie, described her as a “bright, beautiful and most loving little girl”, adding: “It just doesn’t make sense.”

Mr Grant, who was in court for the verdict, said: “She was the most happy, polite and beautiful girl in the world. I still can’t come to terms she’s not here. We all love you so, so much, you will always be with us.”

The Thurstons, of Whitecross Road in Wilburton, denied gross negligence manslaughter and failing to discharge their health and safety duties but were found guilty by a majority on Wednesday.

There were gasps and sobs from their relatives as the verdicts were read out, while Ms Blackie appeared tearful as she left the courtroom before the hearing had finished.

Judge Mr Justice Garnham, delaying sentencing until a later date, said he would be “seriously considering imprisonment”.

DCI Danny Stoten, the investigating officer from the Essex Serious Crime Directorate, said outside court that Summer’s family were “pleased and relieved” with the result.

“The Thurstons put profit before safety,” he added. ”They had huge weight on their shoulders and that was for the safety of children, other people's loved ones.

“They put profit first, they've ignored the rules and the regulations, they didn't conduct the checks they should have conducted and sadly Summer's lost her life.”

Nicola Rutter, of the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), said: “William and Shelby Thurston failed to ensure that the bouncy castle was adequately anchored to the ground and failed to monitor the weather conditions to ensure that it was safe to have it in use.

“They denied their actions were negligent but the CPS and the police built a strong case, together with assistance from the Health and Safety Executive, and demonstrated to the jury that the Thurstons had breached their duty of care to Summer.

“Our thoughts are with Summer’s family and friends.”

Additional reporting by PA