Driver charged after school crash killed two girls in Wimbledon

Claire Freemantle has been charged with two counts of causing death by dangerous driving and seven counts of causing serious injury by dangerous driving after the crash at The Study Prep school in Wimbledon killed Nuria Sajjad and Selena Lau, both eight. More than a dozen other people were injured when the car struck the school site on 6 July 2023, during celebrations for the last day of the summer term.

Freemantle, 49, of Edge Hill, Wimbledon, is due to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on 16 June 2026. Her lawyers have indicated she will plead not guilty. Prosecutors will now have to prove that her driving fell far below the standard expected of a competent and careful driver and that it caused the deaths and serious injuries that followed.

The charging decision came after a sharp reversal in the case. In June 2024, the Metropolitan Police said Freemantle had suffered an epileptic seizure and would face no criminal charges. After concerns were raised by the families of Nuria and Selena, the case was reviewed and reinvestigated by the force’s Specialist Crime Command. The Met has since apologised for how it initially handled the incident and said it will fundamentally reset how it investigates fatal and serious collisions.

The families have welcomed the reopening of the investigation and said they want the process to run its course in the pursuit of truth and the full facts. Their push for answers has kept attention on the long gap between the crash and the decision to bring charges, and on how quickly fatal-driving cases should be revisited when families challenge an initial no-charge outcome.

Police are also appealing for witnesses from the local area, including anyone near the nearby golf course or anyone who saw the distinctive gold Land Rover Defender before the collision. The Independent Office for Police Conduct is separately investigating officers for alleged racism in their handling of the case, adding another layer of scrutiny to a tragedy that has already raised urgent questions about school-site vehicle barriers, crash prevention and the threshold for charging in fatal driving cases.