Police Reopen Investigation Into Wimbledon School Crash Which Killed Two 8-Year-Old Girls

Selena Lau (L) and Nuria Sajjad (R) were killed when a car crashed into their prep school in Wimbledon, south west London on July 7, 2023. Metropolitan Police

The Metropolitan Police have reopened an investigation into a car crash at a school in Wimbledon last year which killed two 8-year-old girls, Selena Lau and Nuria Sajjad.

The Met had launched an internal review after concerns were raised by the families of the girls when the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) decided that Claire Freemantle, who had crashed her Land Rover into the Study Prep School on July 6, 2023, would not be prosecuted because she had suffered an epileptic seizure while driving.

Scotland Yard said in a statement on Thursday that the review had identified “a number of lines of inquiry that require further examination and, as such, the investigation will now be reopened.”

The force continued: “The families have been updated with this development and we will continue to meet with them to provide updates on the investigation as it progresses. We know this has been and remains a really difficult time for them. We believe this further investigative work will address all questions raised by the families affected.

“This further investigation will be undertaken by an accredited senior investigating officer and team with experience in homicide investigations.”

No Prosecution

The crash at the southwest London school, catering for girls aged four to 11, had occurred when the children were having an end-of-year party.

Emergency services at the time said that 16 people were treated at the scene for their injuries, including adults and a seven-month-old, with 10 later taken to hospital.

Selena Lau died at scene. Nuria Sajjad sustained life-threatening injuries and died on July 9.

The driver, Freemantle, was arrested at the scene of the crash on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving.

However, on June 27, 2024 the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) announced that it would not be prosecuting the driver.

Jaswant Narwal, chief crown prosecutor with oversight of the CPS’s London homicide unit, said at the time: “The driver of the vehicle had an epileptic seizure behind the wheel, which caused her to lose control of the vehicle which then drove into the school. There is no evidence the driver had ever suffered a similar seizure before and she had no previously diagnosed medical condition.”

Questions Remain Unanswered

However, the parents of the girls said that “questions that remain unanswered” and they were ”unconvinced that the investigation has been conducted thoroughly.”

In a statement, Nuria Sajjad’s parents, Sajjad Butt and Smera Chohan, and Selena Lau’s parents, Franky Lau and Jessie Deng, said: “Justice has neither been done, nor has been seen to be done today. Nuria and Selena deserved better.”

On July 4, nearly a year to the day the children died, the Met launched its internal investigation.

Police officers set up a cordon line after a car crashed into a primary school building in Wimbledon, London, on July 6, 2023. Kin Cheung/AP Photo

In a statement from June, Freemantle had said: “I can only express my deepest sorrow for the families who have suffered such dreadful loss and injury. As a mother, I understand there can be no words that adequately express the pain and loss resulting from what happened in those horrendous moments while I was unconscious.”

PA Media contributed to this report.