Police investigate underworld links to childcare arson attacks

A childcare centre in Sydney’s north-west has been targeted in an alleged arson attack, three days after another centre in the same chain was set ablaze, with police investigating whether the city’s underworld is behind the fires.

Police say they are searching for more than one suspect following the blaze at Play to Learn Castle Hill, which was allegedly set alight about 1.30am on Monday.

Play to Learn Castle Hill was allegedly targeted by arsonists.Credit: Nick Moir

NSW Police’s arson squad is set to take over the investigation in the coming days to explore possible links to another fire at Play to Learn Turramurra about 4am on Friday.

Both the Castle Hill and Turramurra fires were quickly extinguished, with only minor damage caused and no one injured.

A police source, not permitted to speak publicly, said one line of investigation was that the centres were targeted by organised crime.

All three of the Play to Learn Centres, the two in Sydney and one on the Central Coast, are owned by Patrick Merhi, 43, through separate companies, according to documents obtained by the Herald.

Merhi, this masthead reported in 2022, was a plasterer who had done contracting work with the Nahas family, who are behind Coronation Property.

The Castle Hill fire follows a blaze at another Play to Learn Early Learning Centre (pictured) in Sydney’s north-west last Friday.Credit: Janie Barrett

Coronation Property was subjected to intense scrutiny for its alleged ties to members of the Alameddine crime family, and after hiring former NSW deputy premier John Barilaro.

There is no suggestion Merhi, or any individuals linked to Coronation or Barilaro, are involved in criminal activity.

Merhi’s name appeared on an application to the Hills Council to develop the Castle Hill centre in July that same year, after the “contentious development” was recommended for refusal by planners because of a wave of complaints by residents.

“The issues raised in the submissions include traffic and parking, pedestrian safety, streetscape character ... too many childcare facilities already in the area, construction and operation related issues and property devaluation,” the council document states.

Forensic officer gather evidence at a vacant block behind Play to Learn Castle Hill. Credit: Nick Moir

A Play to Learn statement said the business did not understand why it had been targeted in the two alleged attacks, with director and founder Jade Luci saying “I want to reassure every family that there are no internal concerns, no staff issues, and no grievances at Play to Learn”.

According to ASIC documents, Luci lists her residence at premises in Vaucluse owned by Merhi.

In January 2021, Merhi and Harmony, the wife of his good friend Stephen Bou-Abbse, splashed out $5.1 million for a knockdown house in Vaucluse.

In August 2021, Bou-Abbse, a waterproofer from Merrylands who has also worked as a contractor for Coronation Property, was later listed on a non-association order made against an alleged Alameddine crime boss.

Merhi and Bou-Abbse spent millions more constructing two four-bedroom houses each with a swimming pool on the Old South Head Road site.

The Bou-Abbses sold their half of the Vaucluse development for $11 million in May 2021. Merhi still owns his.

Luci, 43, has also been engaged in a lucrative property deals in the eastern suburbs. In May 2023, she bought a house in Beresford Rd, Bellevue Hill for $10.75m and sold it just two years later for $13.3 million.

Police say they are searching for more than one suspect in relation to the Castle Hill fire, with forensic teams seen gathering evidence at the crime scene and from a vacant block nearby.

The water sprinklers saved the brand-new Castle Hill centre from extensive damage, quickly containing the blaze at the Excelsior Avenue facility.

The alleged arsonists forced entry at the rear of the building, police said, while Nine’s Today reported that accelerant was used in the alleged attack.

“Detectives are examining all aspects of this investigation and CCTV will form a big part of that,” Detective Superintendent Naomi Moore told a press conference on Monday.

Moore said the arson attempt was “very concerning”.

“It’s a residential street, and it troubles us a lot. We will be putting plenty of resources into it today, and I’m really hopeful that the arson squad, assisted by my detectives and the region, will get an outcome for this shortly.”

Play to Learn has been operating in Toukley on the Central Coast for 19 years, before recently expanding to Sydney with the two new centres. Both the Turramurra and Castle Hill facilities opened within recent months.

Moore suggested there could be patrols at the Toukley Play to Learn centre.

“I can’t speak for what’s happening on the Central Coast, but I would say that there certainly would be some patrols of any other locations that might have a link to this.”

Arson attacks have become a common tool of the underworld in conflicts over tobacco territory in Victoria and in other underworld plots in NSW.

YouTuber Friendly Jordies, real name Jordan Shanks, had his Sydney home firebombed in November 2022 allegedly by an Alameddine associate. Police suspected it was retaliation for a video examining alleged links between Coronation, Barilaro and senior Alameddines.

There is no suggestion that the attack on Shanks was linked to Coronation’s staff or Barilaro.

The building of new childcare centres on Excelsior Avenue has been a point of tension among Castle Hill locals, with several houses along the street displaying signage in protest of new construction.

A sign outside an Excelsior Avenue home protesting against new childcare centres.Credit: Nick Moir

One such sign reads “No More Childcare Centres on our Street!” and “Save Excelsior Avenue!”

One resident with a sign outside her home, who asked to remain anonymous, said it referred to a different childcare centre planned for the street.

The woman said she and other locals had also objected to the Play to Learn centre before it was approved, because of what she described as a high concentration in the area. “There’s one in every single corner of Castle Hill,” she said.

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