The fine, less than the combined maximum of $4.5 million Ardent Leisure was facing for the three counts the company was charged with, was handed down in Southport Magistrate’s Court following a harrowing account of the impact of the tragedy by the victims’ families.

The mother of two of the Thunder River Rapids ride victims, Kim Dorsett, broke down as she told the court of the unbearable suffering of the loss that was witnessed by her 12-year-old granddaughter.

She said the tragedy forced her to live in a “lonely village of grief” and she cried for her lost children every day.

“I live life as if I’m on a spin cycle in a washing machine and when I stop to take a breath I have to face the fact this has happened,” she told the court.

“A broken heart has no words.”

Dorsett’s children, Kate Goodchild and Luke Dorsett, along with Luke’s partner Roozi Araghi and Sydney mother of two Cindy Low, died when a water pump on the Thunder River Rapids Ride malfunctioned, causing the raft the group were riding on to flip, collide with another and be pulled into the conveyor belt on 25 October 2016.

Along with her granddaughter Ebony Turner who was on board the raft during the horrific accident, Dorsett travelled from Canberra to the Gold Coast to deliver her impact statement to the court in person.

Ebony Turner was just 12 years old when she watched her mother and two uncles die.

Dorsett told the court of the harrowing aftermath of the incident when Turner was hysterical, repeating, “I couldn’t find mummy.”

“These words have been a constant nightmare,” she said.

Cindy Low’s 10-year-old son was also on the ride. Along with Ebony Turner, Kieran Low was not physically injured.

Cindy Low’s husband Matthew and brother, Michael Cook, watched the court proceedings via video link.

Her mother Helen Cook provided a statement read to the court by prosecutor Aaron Guilfoyle.

“We lost the most precious thing in the world, we can’t replace that,” Cook said.

“There is no hope for a different outcome.”

Ardent Leisure apologised to the victims’ families and friends, first responders, staff and bystanders for the past failures of the theme park.

“Ardent expresses its deepest sympathies to the immediate families and also apologises to those who have been impacted by the tragedy,” defence barrister Bruce Hodgkinson said.

Queensland’s independent Work Health and Safety Prosecutor Aaron Guilfoyle charged Ardent Leisure in July, following Coroner James MacDougall’s six-week inquest into the deaths in 2018 and handed down in February this year.

At the first court mention, Ardent Leisure pleaded guilty to the three charges relating to the company failing to comply with its health and safety duty, exposing individuals to a risk of serious injury or death.

Guilfoyle said every person who set foot in the park had “complete blind trust” in Ardent Leisure.

He told the court the company’s failures were systemic.

“The failures of the defendant were not momentary,” he said.

“They were not solely on the day … failures were well before then.”

After shutting down in March due to pandemic restrictions, Dreamworld re-opened to the public on September 16.

But a planned memorial to Goodchild, Dorsett, Araghi and Low has not yet been installed at the theme park.

While the conviction and fine bring a close to the charges against Ardent Leisure, the company is further facing legal action including a class action by shareholders, as well as individual claims by witnesses, staff, and emergency first responders.

One of the outstanding claims is a compensation payout for Ebony Turner.