A driver has appeared in court charged with causing the deaths of two eight-year-old girls when her car crashed into a Wimbledon primary school, after the Metropolitan Police dramatically reversed its original decision not to press charges.
Claire Freemantle, 49, of Edge Hill, Wimbledon, faced Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday accused of two counts of causing death by dangerous driving and seven counts of causing serious injury by dangerous driving. The charges follow the crash at The Study Prep school on July 6, 2023, which killed Nuria Sajjad and Selena Lau, both eight, as the school was celebrating the last day of the summer term.
Freemantle spoke only to confirm her identity and was not asked to enter a plea. Wearing a dark-coloured trouser suit, she was permitted to sit behind her lawyer rather than in the dock after her defence barrister, Sallie Bennett-Jenkins KC, raised health concerns. The court heard that Freemantle had suffered a recent seizure. Chief Magistrate Paul Goldspring sent the case to the Old Bailey for a hearing on July 14 and released Freemantle on unconditional bail.
According to the Crown Prosecution Service, Freemantle is accused of killing Nuria and Selena and causing serious injury to five other people: Nuria’s mother, Smera Chohan; another mother, Tamsyn Van De Vyver; a third mother; and four children. The injured children listed in the charges include one infant and three girls aged seven and eight. In total, sixteen people were treated at the scene, with ten taken to hospital.
The reversal of the no-charge decision
The decision to charge Freemantle marks a complete reversal of the Metropolitan Police’s initial handling of the case. In June 2024, Scotland Yard announced that the driver had suffered an epileptic seizure and would face no criminal charges. The force stated at the time that Freemantle had no prior history of seizures and that an independent medical expert had diagnosed an epileptic seizure with loss of consciousness and memory, meaning she had no recollection of the crash. She was subsequently diagnosed with epilepsy.
That decision was met with fierce criticism from the families of the two girls, who questioned the thoroughness of the investigation and called for a fresh inquiry. The Met Police then reopened the investigation in October 2024, and Freemantle was rearrested and released under investigation in January 2025. On March 17 this year, the force submitted a full file of evidence to the Crown Prosecution Service. On May 1, after what prosecutors described as “significant new evidence”, Freemantle was formally charged.
The Metropolitan Police later apologised for its initial handling of the incident and the “impact on those affected”, adding that it would be “fundamentally resetting how the Met investigates fatal and serious collisions”. Freemantle’s lawyers have previously stated she will plead not guilty, and have said there are “serious questions to be answered” regarding the reversal of the decision not to charge her.
Independent police watchdog investigation
The Independent Office for Police Conduct is independently investigating the actions of 11 Metropolitan Police officers over their handling of the original inquiry. The watchdog is examining allegations that the quality of the investigation was inadequate, that the families were treated poorly, and that false and misleading information may have been given. Specifically, the IOPC is looking into whether the race of the victims’ families influenced the conduct of officers. Four serving officers – including a commander and a detective chief inspector – and one former officer have been served with notices for gross misconduct. Two further detective constables are under investigation for misconduct.
The crash itself happened when a Land Rover Defender crashed through a fence and into a building at The Study Prep school during an end-of-year tea party. Selena Lau died at the scene, while Nuria Sajjad died from her injuries three days later on July 9, 2023. Two years on, a memorial event was held near the school in July 2025, with two benches unveiled and a two-minute silence observed. Merton Council offered counselling to affected families, students and staff. The incident also inspired acts of vandalism against SUVs in the months that followed, though no link to the crash was established by police.
