Arianna Maragol’s family reacts to Berry Patch Preschool’s successful appeal in NSW District Court

The grief-stricken family whose daughter died after she was found unresponsive at a northwest Sydney childcare centre has spoken about their heartache following the preschool’s successful appeal in court.

Anet Eyvazians, Jozef Maragol and their daughter Maragol. Picture: Hellobaby Photography

The devastated father whose daughter died after being found unresponsive at a northwest Sydney childcare centre has spoken of his family’s heartache following the preschool’s successful appeal.

On Thursday, Berry Patch boss Helen Jacobs successfully appealed a conviction for failing to protect children from harm after baby Arianna Maragol was found unresponsive in a cot at the Kellyville Ridge preschool.

Arianna was 16 months old when she died in hospital on August 24, 2018.

The appeal has been painful for Arianna’s family to accept after a “prolonged” legal battle.

It has also left them questioning the government’s guidelines for facilities.

“For us after almost seven years, to get to this point, I don’t have words to justify my anger, my devastation and I don’t know how to explain this to my family and my wife,’’ Arianna’s dad Jozef Maragol said.

Arianna Maragol died in August 2018.

“We are devastated, the news is raw at the moment, we’re just trying to understand what we do. What are the next steps. The issue is prolonged again.’’

In 2022, Ms Jacobs was convicted and found guilty of failing to protect children from harm and not adequately supervising children after Arianna had gone unchecked for three hours. The charges did not relate to responsibility for the baby’s death.

She and the facility were fined more than $140,000 after the verdict was handed down in the Downing Centre Local Court.

However, this week, Ms Jacobs won her appeal when the judgment was delivered at Campbelltown District Court.

Judge Ross Hudson found the prosecution failed to prove beyond reasonable doubt Ms Jacobs’ and the preschool’s guilt.

Anet Eyvazians with her late daughter Arianna.

During the appeal hearings, prosecuting barrister Kenneth Averre told the court the preschool’s reliance on CCTV and audio monitoring of children was not sufficient supervision.

He argued “cot checks” should be made every 10 minutes by a qualified educator or a nominated supervisor, according to the 2018 standards of excellence set out by the Australian Children’s Education and Care Quality Authority.

The court was previously told these cot checks at the Kellyville Ridge facility were conducted mostly through CCTV cameras, with educators only physically entering the room if a baby was upset or awake.

But the defence had argued between the time the preschool first opened in 2009 and 2018, the ACECQA or Red Nose Australia – the leading standard on childcare – had no requirement to physically check if sleeping babies were breathing.

The defence argued the centre had staff formally trained in safe sleep practices while staff employment contracts outlined requirements for staff to follow policies and national regulations.

Anet Eyvazians and Jozef Maragol with their son Samuel. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

Mr Maragol has been upset by the unclear guidelines for children.

“Four hundred thousand kids, they go to our childcare centres (in NSW),’’ he said.

“It just seems like the department did not have sufficient guidelines outlining what is needed and … we’re putting the public at risk if there are no guidelines for the team to regulate.

“How many of them are at risk? If there are no policies in place, who is responsible for these kids? The system failed.’’

Mr Maragol hopes a coronial inquest can get under way and provide answers to his daughter’s death.

“We just want closure,’’ he said.

“We need to know what happened to her and we need to know what we could do to save others.

“How much devastation do we have to go through?”

A NSW Education Department spokeswoman said it would co-operate with any inquest the NSW Coroner would conduct into Arianna’s death.

“We acknowledge the seriousness of this incident and undertook a thorough investigation and prosecution action following the police investigation,’’ she said.

“Since this incident occurred, the department has reviewed guidance provided to education and care services around sleep and rest policies and procedures.

“All service providers are required to have sleep and rest policies and procedures in place based on best practice.’’

Originally published as Arianna Maragol’s family reacts to Berry Patch Preschool’s successful appeal in NSW District Court