https://www.channelnewsasia.com/singapore/freelance-instructor-jailed-schoolgirl-fell-11m-flying-fox-suffering-fractures-4149081
Alvina Lee Peiyu arrives at the State Courts on Feb 26, 2024. (Photo: CNA/Eugene Goh)
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 Bound Singapore (OBS) Level 2 Challenge Course Instructor certification and was trained to set up and conduct zipline 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 the "Outdoor Education Modular Programme" offered by her school to Primary 4 students to expose them to high elements and outdoor life skills.
Her identity and any information leading to it is protected by gag order.
The school hired outdoor education firm Innotrek to conduct the programme, scheduled for 90 minutes per weekly session across seven sessions, from January 2020.