Wimbledon school crash: Families of 8-year-olds killed break silence as driver re-arrested
Wimbledon school crash: Families of 8-year-olds killed break silence as driver re-arrested
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The families of two girls who were killed when a car ploughed into their school said they "welcomed" the reopening of a police investigation with the driver rearrested. Nuria Sajjad and Selena Lau, both eight, died in the incident at The Study Prep school in Wimbledon, south-west London, in July 2023 while celebrating the last day of the summer term.
In June last year, the Metropolitan Police said the driver had suffered an epileptic seizure and would face no criminal charges. But the girls’ families said they were unconvinced the investigation had been carried out thoroughly and in October the force said it would reopen its inquiry.
On Tuesday, the Met said the 48-year-old driver had been arrested and was in custody. She was originally arrested for the same offence at the scene of the collision on July 6, 2023. Last summer, prosecutors found the driver of the car, Claire Freemantle, had never had an epileptic seizure before and was in good health before the crash. In a statement at the time, she expressed her “deepest sorrow” and said she had “no recollection of what took place” after losing consciousness.
On Tuesday, the force said that following concerns raised by the girls’ families, it had carried out its own review of the case and found lines of inquiry that “required further examination”. Detective Superintendent Lewis Basford, who is leading the new investigation, said: “I would like to take this opportunity to appeal to any witnesses or individuals with information who are yet to speak to police to please come forward.
