Driver accused of killing girls in Wimbledon prep school crash appears in court
Schoolgirls Nuria Sajjad and Selena Lau died in the incident as the school was celebrating the last day of the summer term.
A driver of a 4×4 accused of killing two girls when she crashed into a Wimbledon primary school has appeared in court for the first time.
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Claire Freemantle, 49, faces two charges of causing death by dangerous driving and seven counts of causing serious injury by dangerous driving after the incident at The Study Prep school in July 2023.
Schoolgirls Nuria Sajjad and Selena Lau died in the incident as the school was celebrating the last day of the summer term.
At Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday, Freemantle, of Edge Hill, Wimbledon, was allowed to sit behind her lawyer, rather than in the dock, for the hearing.
Wearing a dark-coloured trouser suit, Freemantle spoke to confirm her identity and was not asked to enter any pleas.
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She is accused of killing Nuria and Selena, as well as causing serious injury in the crash to Nuria’s mother Smera Chohan and another mother named Tamsyn Van De Vyver.
A third mother and her seven-month-old baby were also injured, as well as two eight-year-old girls and a seven-year-old girl.
The charges came in May after the girls’ families criticised the Metropolitan Police for its investigation into the crash, with the force saying in June 2024 that the driver had suffered an epileptic seizure and would face no criminal charges.
Freemantle was rearrested and released under investigation in January last year.
The Met apologised for the way it initially dealt with the incident and the “impact on those affected”, adding it would be “fundamentally resetting how the Met investigates fatal and serious collisions”.
The Independent Office for Police Conduct has been investigating officers for alleged racism in their handling of the case.
The watchdog previously said it was probing allegations that officers provided “false and misleading information” to the families following complaints about the standard of the investigation, with four serving officers, including a commander and a detective chief inspector, being investigated for gross misconduct.