Arthurs Seat chairlift was sabotaged, court hears

Public Forum
Post Reply
User avatar
Zamperla
Administrator
Posts: 2030
Joined: Wed Nov 27, 2002 9:00 pm
Location: Melbourne, Australia
Contact:

Arthurs Seat chairlift was sabotaged, court hears

Post by Zamperla »


Arthurs Seat chairlift was sabotaged, court hears

Article from: Herald Sun
Kate Jones
October 10, 2007

THE OWNER of the Arthurs Seat chairlift was not to blame for an elderly woman's injuries caused when her chair crashed into another one, a court heard today. Lawyers for Richard Hudson, managing director of the chairlift, told the County Court the chair Tri Thi Le , then 77, was riding in on March 18, 2004 had been the subject of sabotage.

The day before the incident, two witnesses driving along Arthurs Seat road told police they saw a man climbing on one of the chairs closest to the ground, the court heard.

The witnesses believed the man was a maintenance worker, but he was later not identifed as a staff member.

The next day, Mrs Le's legs were badly fractured when the chair she was in with her son Dung Van Ma slipped forward, colliding with the chair in front.

The court was shown a video taken by Mr Ma in the moments before the accident.

The video depicts the Mornington Peninsula scenery and the smiling faces of their relatives in the chair in front of Mr Ma and Mrs Le.

Suddenly the chair hurtles forward at a sickening speed and the video cuts out before the impact.

``We were on the chairlift for about 10 to 15 minutes before things started to go wrong,'' Mr Ma said in documents tendered to the court.

``As were were going past a pole I felt the chair drop quick and start to slide very fast, much faster than the normal speed of the ride.

``I started screaming. I didn't have enough time to look after my mum.''

Despite the allegations of sabotage, prosecutor Ross Ray, QC, told the court the chairlift operators had failed to ensure passengers' safety.

He told the court the bolts securing the chairs to the cable were not tight enough and should have been checked in the days before the accident as part of a regular maintenance system.

Of the chairlift's 64 chairs, only 8 were set to the correct torque, Mr Ray told the court.

The company has pleaded guilty to one count of failing to ensure the safety of people other than employees. the maximum fine is $250,000.

The plea before Judge David Parsons has been adjourned to a date to be fixed.
Post Reply