Woman accused of killing two girls in Wimbledon school crash appears in court

A driver accused of killing two girls when she crashed into a Wimbledon primary school has appeared in court for the first time.

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, both eight years old, died 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-colored trouser suit, Freemantle spoke to confirm her identity and was not asked to enter any pleas.

She is accused of killing Nuria and Selena, as well as causing serious injury in the crash to Nuria’s mother, Smera Chohan, another mother, Tamsyn Van De Vyver, a third mother, and four children.

The injured children in the charges include one infant and three girls aged seven and eight.

Criminal charges were announced in May, after the girls’ families criticised the Metropolitan Police for its investigation into the crash.

In June 2024, Scotland Yard said the driver of the vehicle had suffered an epileptic seizure and would face no criminal charges.

But that decision was reversed, and the Met apologized for its initial handling of the incident and the ‘impact on those affected’, adding it would be ‘fundamentally resetting how the Met investigates fatal and serious collisions’.

After the charges were announced, Freemantle’s lawyers previously said she would plead not guilty to the charges.

Sallie Bennett-Jenkins KC, defending, asked for Freemantle to be allowed to sit in the well of the court, rather than in the dock, due to health concerns.

Chief Magistrate Paul Goldspring sent the case to the Old Bailey for a hearing on July 14 and released Freemantle on unconditional bail.

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