Australia, Sept. 9 -- New South Wales Land and Environment Court issued text of the following judgement on Aug. 8:

1. On 13 October 2021 Crestville Holdings Pty Ltd (Crestville), entered a plea of guilty to an offence that Crestville, being a person conducting a business or undertaking who had a duty under s 19(2) of the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (NSW) (WHS Act) to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that the health and safety of other persons is not put at risk from work carried out as part of the business or undertaking, failed to comply with that duty and the failure to comply exposed persons, in particular Andreas Stephano Progulakis Araya (Mr Araya), to a risk of death or serious injury, contrary to s 32 of the WHS Act.

2. On 13 October 2021, Michael Garben (Mr Garben), being an officer of Crestville who had a duty under s 27(1) of the WHS Act to exercise due diligence to ensure that the company complied with its duty under section 19(2) of the WHS Act, failed to comply with that duty and the failure to comply with that duty exposed persons, in particular, Mr Araya to a risk of death or serious injury, contrary to s 32 of the WHS Act.

3. On 13 October 2021, Simon Stevens (Mr Stevens), being an officer of Crestville, who had a duty under s 27(1) of the WHS Act to exercise due diligence to ensure that the company complied with its duty under s 19(2) of the WHS Act, failed to comply with that duty and the failure to comply with that duty exposed persons, in particular, Mr Araya to a risk of death or serious injury, contrary to s 32 of the WHS Act.

4. The prosecutor tendered a Prosecution Sentence Tender Bundle (PSTB) which became exhibit A. After convicting the defendants, the prosecutor tendered two Victim Impact Statements. The first Victim Impact Statement is of Ms Kiah Berglund (Ms Berglund) dated 4 June 2025 which became exhibit B, and the second Victim Impact Statement is of Ms Jimena Olivares (Ms Olivares) dated 4 June 2025 which became exhibit C.

5. The defendant tendered an affidavit of Mr Stevens affirmed 30 May 2025 which became exhibit 1, an affidavit of Mr Garben affirmed 30 May 2025 which became exhibit 2, and a further affidavit of Mr Garben affirmed 30 May 2025 which became exhibit 3.

6. Both Ms Berglund and Ms Olivares read their statements in open court.

Background

7. There were provided to the court Amended Summonses and Agreed Statements of Fact (ASOF) in each matter. These provided the circumstances of the offending, to which I will now refer in summary.

8. Crestville operated an indoor climbing gym - Sydney Indoor Climbing Gym (Gym) at Unit 4C, 1-7 Unwins Bridge Road, St Peters, NSW. Crestville had three directors, Mr Garben and Mr Stevens who were both in charge of day-to-day operations, and Anthony Meer who was not involved in day-to-day operations.

9. As of 15 December 2021, the Gym employed 50 people in various roles including Gym Assistants and Supervisors responsible for the supervision of climbing activity throughout the Gym.

10. At the time of the incident, there were two dedicated climbing areas being the "main room" and the "new room". There were several climbing methods that could be used including auto-belay. Auto-belay units would allow a climber to release themselves from the wall and be lowered to the ground in a controlled manner without the assistance of another person.

*Rest of the document can be viewed at: (https://www.caselaw.nsw.gov.au/decision/19886e9e6648440bb88e4b33)

Disclaimer: Curated by HT Syndication.