SINGAPORE: A freelance instructor tasked with rigging up schoolchildren to a flying fox structure on a primary school compound failed to properly attach a nine-year-old girl to the zipline.
As a result, the girl’s carabiner was attached to the zipline cable only via a black cable tie, which snapped once she was dispatched.
The girl fell 11m from four floors up and fractured her elbow, hip and pelvis.
Alvina Lee Peiyu, a 34-year-old Singaporean, was sentenced to two months’ jail on Monday (Feb 26).
She pleaded guilty to one count of a negligent act endangering human life.
The case comes a month after a volunteer instructor was given six months’ jail over the death of a 15-year-old boy in a high-element obstacle course.
The court heard that Lee was a freelance instructor who had about four years of experience at the time of the incident.
She had obtained the Outward Board Singapore (OBS) Level 2 Challenge Course Instructor certification and was trained to set up and conduct such activities.
From her experience and training, she understood the risks posed by activities such as riding a flying fox and understood that falling from three or four storeys could cause serious injuries or death.
The victim was participating in an outdoor education modular programme offered by her primary school.
Her identity and any information leading to it is protected by gag order.
The programme was scheduled for 90 minutes per weekly session across seven sessions.
THE INCIDENT
On Feb 12, 2020, the instructors involved were briefed and assigned roles.
Lee was not initially assigned to the flying fox activity, but was later tasked with it to take over a colleague.
The dispatching platform for the flying fox was on the fourth floor of the school, while the receiving platform was on the third floor.
A participant was to zip from the fourth to the third floor and walk back to the fourth floor to pass the required equipment back to the dispatching instructor for the next participant.
The instructors met the students and helped them with their personal protective equipment (PPE) before giving them instructions on what to do.
Lee was a dispatching instructor. She was to conduct a safety check that the PPE was safely secured.
After this, she would connect the participant to the zipline cable and check on several components to ensure that their rigging was done properly.
When the flying fox activity began, Lee’s colleague arranged for the most confident student to participate first.
The first six participants went through the course without issue. The victim was the seventh participant.
She went up to Lee, and was hesitant about the activity, which was common for participants.
Lee failed to ensure that the victim’s autolocking carabiner was safely and securely attached to the zipline pulley system.
Instead, the carabiner was attached to the zipline cable only via a black cable tie that was meant only to secure certain components together and not to bear a load.
Lee dispatched the girl onto the flying fox, with the weight of the girl borne by the cable tie.
The cable tie snapped and the girl fell 11m to the ground.
She was taken to hospital and suffered fractures to her left elbow, right hip and left pelvis.
Other injuries included weakness in her ankle and foot, and bladder dysfunction. She was hospitalised and spent some time in a high-dependency unit.
SENTENCING ARGUMENTS
Deputy Public Prosecutor Sunil Nair asked for up to four months’ jail, citing the vulnerability of the young victim, the trust placed in the accused and the injuries caused.
Mr Nair clarified at the judge’s probing that the person who had secured the autolocking carabiner to the cable tie in the first place was the receiving instructor on the third floor.
The cable tie was meant only to secure certain loose components together so they could be taken up to the fourth floor, he explained.
After this, Lee was supposed to re-attach the components, attach the autolocking carabiner through an O-ring and link it to the main device.
Defence lawyer Phyllis Wong of Infinitus Law said her client admitted that she failed to do this and instead mistakenly attached the autolocking carabiner to the cable tie instead of the main device.
The prosecutor said outdoor activities are offered in local schools to give children a chance to experience teamwork away from a classroom setting and to confront their fears.
However, he stressed that safety is always paramount in such settings and that the children place “complete faith” in their instructors.
Any such activities involving children in schools should therefore be conducted with extreme care, said Mr Nair.
He accepted that Lee had no previous convictions and that this was a one-off lapse, but said it was a particularly crucial one.
He said a high fine would not be appropriate.
The defence argued that the victim’s further hospitalisation leave could not be considered, but the judge had difficulty with this, saying that the injuries had been caused by the accused.
For causing grievous hurt by a negligent act, Lee could have been jailed for up to two years, fined up to S$5,000, or both.
