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https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-05-21/movie-world-cleared-carousel-child-descalping-injury/105317156 Mr Holt said the carousel was immediately shut down after the incident and underwent a "hardcore engineering solution" before it was re-opened several months later. "Once the risk was reasonably foreseeable, Village Roadshow Theme Parks made it impossible for it to occur," he said. 'Haven't wanted to go back' Movie World attraction attendant Ruby Piakura, who was operating the carousel on the day of the incident, told the court she had worked on the ride for more than six months at the time. Ms Piakura said she had never seen a rider stand on a character before that day and had hit the emergency stop as soon as she realised something was wrong. Mr Randall says Queensland's theme park safety regulations are the most stringent in Australia. (ABC News: Steve Keen) Asked if she had seen a rider stand on a character since, she told the court that, while she continued to work at Movie World, she no longer operated the carousel. "I haven't wanted to go back to working on that ride," she said. 'Extremely surprised' Theme park ride safety consultant David Randall wrote the report that recommended plastic brushes be installed on the carousel. He told the court he had made the recommendation as an opportunity for improvement on the ride, not as a requirement for it to operate. He said plastic brushes were a tactile deterrent rather than a physical barrier, meaning even if they were installed on the ride, the boy's head could still have gone through them and into the machinery above. Movie World on the Gold Coast officially opened in June 1991. (ABC Archives) "I recommended the plastic brush be installed so that if a child reaches up into that area, they touch the brushes and pull their hand away," he said. Mr Randall said that, even with decades of experience in safety management, he did not identify a person standing on a carousel character as a foreseeable risk. "I was extremely surprised after the event, which is unusual for me, as I'd never considered that as an issue," he told the court. Movie World's Looney Tunes characters are popular with young visitors. (ABC Gold Coast: Dominic Cansdale) On the third day of the trial, Ms O'Connor told Ms O'Neill the prosecution had no further evidence to offer, and asked to withdraw from the case. "I think that is a responsible decision, given the evidence we have heard," Ms O'Neill said before she dismissed the charge against Village Roadshow Theme Parks. The theme park operator will now make an application for WHSQ to pay its legal costs in the case.