Warning: This story contains details that may distress some readers.

When the families of children who died in the Hillcrest Primary School tragedy entered the Devonport Magistrates Court at the start of November, they had already endured more than two years of court appearances.

One mother, Georgie Burt, carried a cushion with a photo of her son Zane Mellor printed on each side.

A father, Andrew Dodt, wore a rotating roster of t-shirts featuring his son Peter's face.

These are the harrowing reminders of children lost, and parents who have ever since been waiting for answers.

The first week of the criminal hearing against Rosemary Anne Gamble, who is charged with failing in her work health and safety duty, was always going to be an intense and emotional affair.

WARNING: A video in this story depicts a dust devil event from the US with no children involved. It is not the Hillcrest event. Viewer discretion is advised.

Six primary school children — Zane Mellor, Peter Dodt, Jalailah Jayne-Maree Jones, Addison Stewart, Jye Sheehan, and Chace Harrison— died, and three of their classmates were seriously injured, when a jumping castle was lifted into the air by a "mini tornado" on December 16, 2021, at an end-of-year celebration.

Ms Gamble is the operator of Taz-Zorb, the company which owned the inflatables which became airborne above the grounds of the primary school.

She has pleaded not guilty to the charge against her.

Prosecutors said the apparently freak wind event, on an otherwise calm and sunny day, met with a poorly anchored jumping castle filled with children to create an unprecedented and horrific scene.

A day that devastated the state

What became known as the Hillcrest tragedy made international headlines.

The grief, anger and sheer disbelief at its gravity permeated Tasmania, perhaps best symbolised by the widely shared image depicting the island state as a broken heart.

Much of the evidence discussed during the first week of the hearing was foreshadowed on October 18, 2022, when Coroner Olivia McTaggart held the first coronial case management hearing into the tragedy.

It was the first time the term "mini tornado" was spoken in open court, and when it was first discussed that five of those who died were in the jumping castle, while another was waiting in line and struck by a heavy object.

Ms McTaggart described it as "catastrophic".

But the coronial inquest was shelved, as the workplace regulator's criminal investigation was prioritised in a ruling by the Supreme Court.

Delays add to grief and anger

Ms Gamble was not charged, or named publically, until the end of 2023.

Another year of preliminary hearings, witness preparation and unexpected delays followed.

At each turn, the families of the victims appeared in court, occasionally letting their frustration, grief and anger bubble over.

When Ms Gamble's not guilty plea was entered to the court in early 2024, one of the family members swore loudly at her, foreshadowing a little of what was to come during the hearing.

On November 5, the first day of the hearing before Magistrate Robert Webster, prosecutor Madeleine Wilson SC told the court it was the Crown case that Ms Gamble failed in several ways in her duty to mitigate risks.

That included allegedly using four 30 centimetre pegs to anchor the jumping castle when it had eight possible tether points, and not formally training herself or her staff.

Outbursts by family members

Robert Monte, her partner and Taz-Zorb worker, told the court they watched YouTube and taught themselves how to operate the jumping castle after buying it from a Chinese company in 2015.

"You're f****** joking," a father said as he stormed out of court during Mr Monte's evidence.

When photos of the pegs used on the day, taken by Tasmania Police First Class Constable Dean Wotherspoon, were displayed to the court, another parent also let their anger out.

"Yeah, thanks a lot. You did a good job," they said, before adding "go to f****** jail".

But just as often the anger has turned to sadness, with family members comforting each other in the rear of the court as graphic and traumatic details have been aired.

Families confront traumatic details

In the first few days of the hearing, Ms Wilson issued several content warnings, including when Constable Wotherspoon's forensic photos of the blood-stained jumping castle were displayed, and children's DNA matches were discussed.

Two women embraced as a child's name was read to the court, and another mother moaned loudly as Ms Wilson said her son's name.

But lawyer Chris Dockray has said it was the defence case that Ms Gamble could not have known what was to come, as the wind event could not have been predicted.

He said she sought assurances from East Inflatables, the Chinese manufacturer, that the castle was manufactured to Australian standards, and set it up with the four pegs provided.

In an email from an East Inflatables saleswoman named Fiona shown to the court, it appeared those assurances were granted.

"Our products are produced according to Australian standards, even certified by the most strict European standards," Fiona wrote in the email.

When asked about how many pegs were supplied with their products, East Inflatables sales manager Andy Chen told the court "on average … four to eight pegs".

Magistrate Webster said it will be a matter for him to determine the nature of the pegs Taz-Zorb actually received.

"Four or eight and how long?" he said in summary.

Court told of unpredictable circumstances

Mr Dockray said the question for the court to answer was whether a person in Ms Gamble's position could have done anything more to mitigate the risk that materialised on the day of the tragedy.

Further, he said the only step that could have been taken was for the primary school to not hold its Big Day In.

The inability to predict a dust devil was confirmed by an expert on the hearing's final day of the first week.

Wind and weather expert Nicholas Earl-Jones, from the University of Tasmania, said that while dust devils could be predicted in certain parts of the world, Tasmania wasn't one of them.

But, he said that based on witness statements he was "absolutely certain" that there was a dust devil on the oval.

His evidence ended the hearing's first week, and though it was delayed by several hours after Mr Dockray raised an objection which required Magistrate Webster's ruling, the criminal case so far remains on track.

Though that may be of little comfort to the families who have already spent three years waiting for answers.