“We have been absolutely let down. Our baby girl has died" - parents of Tiya Chauhan speak out over sentencing of Dicky Birds Nursery in Wimbledon

Little Tiya Chauhan was just 22 months old when she was briefly left unattended and swallowed the jelly at the Dicky Birds Nursery in Dundonald Road, Wimbledon, on August 23, 2012.

She was found face down and unresponsive on the nursery floor by a member of staff and rushed to St George’s Hospital, where she died the next day.

March 22: Dicky Birds Nursery in Wimbledon fined £180,000 after death of toddler Tiya Chauhan

Dicky Birds say it has taken full responsibility for the tragic accident from the earliest opportunity and in February the nursery pleaded guilty to two charges - failing to ensure Tiya was not exposed to the risk of choking on the jelly cube and failing to make suitable and sufficient assessment of health and safety risks.

Now the little girl’s parents Dipa and Chetan Chauhan, of Graham Road, Wimbledon, have spoken out for the first time about the devastating effect Tiya’s death has had on the family and their two other children.

Dipa and Chetan Chauhan leaving court

Tiya’s mother, Dipa Chauhan, described her daughter as a lovely child.

She said: “She was forming a personality. She had a good bond with her brother. She was a happy child. 

“The fact she’s gone has left a big hole in our family. It’s had a huge impact on all of us.”

The couple both left their jobs following Tiya’s death, and say they now find it hard to trust anybody to look after their eight-year-old son and two-year-old daughter.

Their son, who remembers Tiya, began crying on a recent family holiday because he missed his sister, something Mr Chauhan described as “just really, really tough.”

He said: “We have been absolutely let down. Our baby girl has died.”

Dicky Birds, which runs six nurseries and an after-school club around Merton and Kingston, were fined £180,000, and had to pay legal costs of £17,234.50 at Kingston Crown Court on Monday, March 21.

February 11: Dicky Birds Nursery pleads guilty to health and safety failures in the death of toddler Tiya Chauhan

However, Tiya’s parents have described this as a “drop in the ocean” for a company with an annual turnover of £7.5 million, and expressed frustration with the nursery’s ongoing campaign to raise awareness about the dangers of raw jelly.

Mr Chauhan, who was in court for the hearing with his wife, said: “During the inquest they kept blaming the jelly, and not realising that the jelly was just the outcome of how they were set up to function on that particular day.

“It was the lack of supervision and a risk assessment that should have been done, and if it had then our daughter would have been here today.

"It wasn’t the jelly that was the problem.”

In a statement, owner of Dicky Birds Nurseries Rachel Berry said: “Dicky Birds has taken full responsibility for this tragic accident from the earliest opportunity. That is why we decided not to contest either of the health and safety charges brought against us.

“We know that jelly cubes are still used by some nurseries and feel that more needs to be done to raise awareness of the very specific risks of raw jelly both at nurseries and at home."

An inquest held in August 2014 found Dicky Birds guilty of ‘gross failure’ over Tiya’s death, which was described as ‘an accident contributed to by neglect.’

September 2014: Dicky Birds Nursery in Wimbledon guilty of 'gross failure' over toddler Tiya Chauhan's death

Mr Chauhan said: “They are now criminally charged with breaking health and safety, but so what? What does that really mean? They are still continuing to operate.

“They still have children there. It has no impact on anything they do.”

The couple, who are forced to see the nursery every day when they take their eight-year-old son to school, also described their shock that Dicky Birds was allowed to reopen two weeks after Tiya’s death, and that it retained its ‘Good’ rating from Ofsted.

Dicky Birds Nursery in Dundonald Road

Mr Chauhan said: “The nursery should have been shut until the inquest was complete. That’s the only time you can really know what happened.

“How can you say it’s all safe within two weeks? How can you say that just because a child has died it doesn’t mean it’s not safe? How can they be considered ‘Good’ when they have had a fatality? It doesn’t make sense.

“We had hoped the nursery would have closed down at least out of respect. They make enough money from other nurseries, they don’t need to operate there.”

Ms Berry said: “Following the accident, the Dundonald Road nursery was closed for two weeks. During that time, we co-operated fully with Ofsted, and it is they who decided that the nursery could re-open.

“The nursery provides vital childcare for around 80 local families. Closing the nursery for a prolonged period of time would have caused enormous difficulties for those families and their children, who were all well-settled into the nursery. 

"It was only once I and Ofsted were entirely satisfied that the children’s safety could be assured that we decided to re-open. We did so with very heavy hearts. 

"Tiya and her family were at the forefront of our minds then, and they continue to be so.”

The family also expressed anger at “disgusting” comments made by Merton Council’s environmental health commercial manager Andrew Bradley who, in his assessment of the safety of Dicky Birds following Tiya’s death, said: “The child just got through a chink in the armour.”

Mr Chauhan said: “He should never have said anything of that type, especially when a child has died.

“He said the nursery were fine and she just fell through a chink, as if she just had a bruise or a scratch. It was terrible.”

A council spokesperson said the comment was in relation to the apparent break down of supervision which the council then prosecuted the nursery for.

They added: "Our thoughts continue to be with the family and we have done everything within our power to support them, taking the nursery to court and insisting on immediate changes as to how they supervise the children, but only Ofsted can make the decision to close a private nursery.”