Ava-May Littleboy's family react to trampoline death sentencing

Nathan Rowe said the family did not visit Gorleston-on-Sea or nearby Great Yarmouth

The father of a three-year-old girl who died when an inflatable exploded has said the family never visit the beach where the tragedy happened.

Ava-May Littleboy was on the blow-up trampoline when it burst at Gorleston-on-Sea in Norfolk in 2018.

The owner was jailed for six months on Friday for breaching health and safety laws.

Her father said the sentencing was "a massive weight to be lifted off our shoulders".

However, Nathan Rowe said returning to nearby beaches, and replicating experiences that their daughter enjoyed, was a gradual process.

Her parents previously said they would "never be able to teach her to ride a bike"

"It's still stepping stones," he told the BBC.

"We don't go to Gorleston, Yarmouth - that is a place we will never go unfortunately, not for family reasons - Felixstowe did take a while to go back to and just to see a beach because there was just too much heartbreak."

Ava-May, from Lower Somersham in Suffolk, was with family at the beach on 1 July that year when she was thrown into the air and suffered a fatal head injury.

Nathan Rowe, pictured with Ava-May's mother Chloe Littleboy, said a "massive weight" had been lifted

In 2020, an inquest jury concluded no procedure was in place to safely manage the trampoline's inflation, that it had not been checked by an independent third party and had no instruction manual.

Curt Johnson, 52, of Swanston's Road in Great Yarmouth, and his company Johnsons Funfair Ltd, pleaded guilty to two counts of breaching health and safety laws.

As well as his prison sentence, Johnson was disqualified from being a company director for five years.

His firm, Johnsons Funfair Limited, of Great Yarmouth, was fined £20,000 and ordered to pay a combined £300,000 in costs.

The three-year-old was thrown into the air when an inflatable trampoline exploded

"No lessons were going to be made unless proper justice was given, so a custodial sentence was an absolute win for us," said Mr Rowe, who thanked supporters, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and the borough council.

"We've lost our daughter but hopefully no one else will lose theirs or any member of their family.

"There are people operating like this out there and if they get caught out, justice is going to get done."

Ava-May had been on a family day out in Gorleston, Norfolk, when the tragedy happened

He said the HSE had promised "wheels are in motion" to crack down on so-called legislation loopholes and said talks were ongoing with the council about auctioning off a piece of local Banksy art to fund a "tribute" for Ava-May.

Mr Rowe said Ava-May "just wanted to explore" and was a "breath of fresh air".