Carnie Tyrone Troy Taylor has been ordered to pay $5,000 in the Darwin Local Court after he was found guilty of one count of failing to comply with an improvement notice under the work health and safety laws, NT Work Safe has said.

In a statement NT Work Safe executive director Peggy Cheong said the $5000 fine came after Taylor had set up several amusement rides at Karu Park in Darwin to operate a carnival in August 2021, and was issued several improvement notices for his rides by NT Work Safe inspectors due to maintenance concerns.

The statement said Taylor was already before the courts facing Work Safe charges over a 2019 Octopus ride malfunction at Freds Pass Show which injured two passengers, when he was issued a compliance notice.

It was found Taylor failed to develop maintenance regimes for his rides as required by the improvement notices and was subsequently issued with infringement notices which he challenged, Ms Cheong said.

“Mr Taylor appeared not to take his work health and safety duties seriously concerning the maintenance of his amusement rides considering the serious incident he was involved in two years earlier,” she said.

“Improvement notices are one of the tools available to inspectors to ensure compliance with the work health and safety laws. Inspectors will issue an improvement notice if they form a reasonable belief that there has been a contravention of the laws that could create a risk to health and safety.”

In 2019, Taylor plead guilty to charges stemming from the Freds Pass Show crash that injured a woman and a child.

On May 18, 2019, a 61-year-old woman, who was the only adult on the ride, and a child were injured after an arm from the Octopus ride broke leading to a part of the ride that carries people falling to the ground.

The woman was transported to Palmerston Hospital with minor injuries.

Another eight other kids were stuck on the ride, with some taken down by a ladder, while some were rescued with a scissor lift.

The Darwin Local Court, at that time, ordered him to pay a total financial penalty of $30,000, which included $10,000 each to the two injured passengers, and another $10,000 for his fine.