Berry Patch Kellyville Ridge: Arianna Maragol death, criminal hearing delayed

The grieving parents of a toddler who tragically died at a preschool in Sydney’s north-west have been dealt a cruel blow in their wait for answers.

The parents whose daughter died at a childcare centre in Sydney’s north west will have a longer wait for answers after a delay in criminal proceedings.

Jozef Maragol and Anet Eyvazians have been searching for closure for two and a half years since their daughter, Arianna, tragically died at The Berry Patch Preschool in Kellyville Ridge in August 2018.

The 16-month-old was found unresponsive during nap time just after midday on August 24, 2018 and was tragically pronounced dead at hospital a short time later.

A criminal hearing surrounding alleged supervision and care breaches involving the centre and director Helen Elizabeth Jacobs was heard over five days at Parramatta Local Court this week.

The court sat through hours of CCTV footage taken at the centre on the day of Arianna’s day, August 24, 2018.

Arianna Maragol, left, tragically passed away at The Berry Patch Preschool in August 2018 and Helen Elizabeth Jacobs, 43, the owner of Berry Patch Preschool in Kellyville Ridge is facing six charges.

Magistrate David Price ruled that evidence surrounding Arianna’s death was not relevant to the proceedings on the first day of the hearing, despite the toddler’s death prompting an investigation into practice at the centre.

“It’s my view that the supervision and care that was required to be provided to all children at the relevant centre on the dates is likely to have been a standard that was required at all times when children were at the centre, not just when the relevant child Arianna was at the centre,” Magistrate Price said.

“Although it is a tragic circumstance, and although it is a natural desire to attempt to link the two situations being the death and the alleged inadequacy of care and supervision, on the information currently available, it appears the death of Arianna is not relevant to the questions I’m being asked to determine in this hearing.”

The Berry Patch Preschool, Kellyville Ridge. Picture: Google

Jacobs has pleaded not guilty to six charges of failing to protect children from harm and inadequately supervising children on three occasions in 2018.

The Berry Patch preschool faces 10 criminal charges, including three charges of failing to protect children from harm or hazard, namely SIDS or suffocation, by not complying with sleep policies.

They face fines of up to $10,000 and $50,000 respectively if found guilty of the alleged offences.

The charges follow an investigation from the Department of Education, which is prosecuting the case and alleges the centre failed to provide adequate care and supervision to sleeping children.

Helen Elizabeth Jacobs, 43, the owner of Berry Patch Preschool in Kellyville Ridge, has pleaded not guilty to several charges.

The department alleges the CCTV footage demonstrates inadequate supervision over an almost two hour period until Arianna was found unresponsive in one of the centre’s cot rooms on the day of her death.

However, the centre claimed it did have appropriate sleep guidelines in place and it was a staff member who failed to comply with the centre’s policies.

“The inactions or failures of a staff member could not be attributable to the nominated supervisor because of all the actions they took to make sure their staff understood the guidelines,” the defence argued.

The court heard the preschool took reasonable steps to ensure staff at the centre followed its sleep policy, including the provision of training from the Red Nose Foundation, as well as iPads with timers as a reminder for staff to conduct regular cot checks.

A coronial inquest scheduled for June is hoped to shed light on the cause of the toddler’s death, after autopsy results proved inconclusive.

The hearing was adjourned to August.

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