Driver charged over Wimbledon school crash that killed two girls

Claire Freemantle faced a courtroom reckoning on Monday over the Wimbledon school crash that killed two eight-year-old girls and injured several others when a Land Rover Defender left the road and ploughed into The Study Preparatory School grounds. She was charged with two counts of causing death by dangerous driving and seven counts of causing serious injury by dangerous driving.

The crash happened on 6 July 2023 during the school’s end-of-term tea party on the last day of the summer term. Nuria Sajjad and Selena Lau both died after the collision, which also injured Nuria’s mother, Smera Chohan, two other adults, two eight-year-old girls, a seven-year-old girl and a seven-month-old baby. Reports said 16 people were treated at the scene and 10 were taken to hospital, as 15 ambulances and 35 police vehicles responded to what was treated as a major incident.

Freemantle, now 49, appeared at Westminster Magistrates’ Court and was allowed to sit behind her lawyer rather than in the dock. She spoke only to confirm her identity, was not asked to enter pleas and was granted unconditional bail. The case was sent to the Old Bailey for a further hearing on 14 July 2026. Her lawyers have previously said she intends to plead not guilty.

The prosecution follows a long and painful reversal in the investigation. In June 2024, the Metropolitan Police said the driver had suffered an epileptic seizure and would face no criminal charges. After concerns from the families, that decision was reviewed and the force’s Specialist Crime Command reinvestigated. Freemantle was rearrested and released under investigation in January 2025.

The families of Nuria and Selena, along with other injured parties, were in the public gallery for the first court appearance. The crash has already left its mark on the school, the wider Wimbledon community and the local authorities that responded to it, with Merton Council offering counselling to affected pupils, staff and families. For the parents still living with the aftermath, the new charges mark the first public step in a case that has moved from emergency response to questions of accountability, investigative judgment and how schools are protected when vehicles cross the line into places meant to be safe.