Ava-May Littleboy: Owner admits safety breaches over beach inflatable explosion which killed toddler

The owner of a beach inflatable which exploded, killing a three-year-old girl, has admitted breaches of health and safety law.

Ava-May Littleboy suffered fatal head injuries after being thrown into the air as she played on an inflatable trampoline during a family holiday in Norfolk in July 2018.

Witnesses described hearing a loud bang at the beach at Gorleston-on-Sea. A lifeguard and paramedics fought to save her, and she was taken to the James Paget Hospital but died from her injuries.

At Chelmsford Magistrates' Court on Thursday, Johnsons Funfair Ltd, trading as Bounce About, admitted two charges under Section 3 and Section 6 of the Health and Safety Act 1974, and its operations manager Curt Johnson also admitted two breaches under the same act.

The company's admissions relate to failing to ensure that the design of the equipment was safe, and failing to protect the public from risk. Johnson's charges relate to being a director of the company which committed those same two failings.

An inquest in March 2020 found the funfair ride had been inspected by an independent company just four days before the accident - and was found to be unsafe to use.

But because the trampoline was not registered with an official testing scheme, no record was made of those concerns - and no action taken to stop it being used.

Speaking to ITV News Anglia in 2021, Ava-May's father Nathan Rowe said losing his daughter had turned the family's life "upside down".

"It was almost like being in a dream: is this actually real? Has this actually just happened?" he said.

"Those sorts of days aren’t supposed to happen. You go to the seaside for a family vacation, to enjoy time with your family and the next thing you know it’s all on its head -your life has been turned upside down by a random moment," he said.

"Then we're driving back and we're a family member down. Our little girl never came back with us. It was just absolutely soul-destroying."

Thursday's prosecution was brought by Great Yarmouth Borough Council, which is the health and safety enforcement authority for imported equipment and inflatables in the area.

A spokesman said Johnsons Funfair Ltd and Curt Johnson had not obtained operating and safety instructions for the inflatables, and had not prepared a specific risk assessment for the trampoline.

It had not had independent certification, and none of the company's inflatables had valid safety certificates in summer 2018, said the council.

The spokesman said: "There was no proper written procedure for setting up the inflatables, including the trampoline. And there were some young people employed as assistants without the work permits required under legislation to employ persons of their ages.

"Curt Johnson has further made it plain that it was he, as operations manager, who caused the company to fall short of safety management standards in those respects."

Charges against Curt Johnson's partner Gisele Johnson have been withdrawn by the council, as a result of his pleas.

Sentencing has been adjourned until a two-day hearing in November.

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