A woman has been charged in connection with a tragic car crash that killed two eight-year-old girls, including Indian-origin schoolgirl Nuria Sajjad, after a vehicle ploughed into a primary school celebration in London.
49-year-old Claire Freemantle from Edge Hill in Wimbledon, faces two counts of causing death by dangerous driving and seven counts of causing serious injury by dangerous driving following the incident in July 2023 at The Study Prep school in Wimbledon.
She is expected to plead not guilty when she appears at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on June 16, according to her legal team.
The crash took place during a summer term end-of-year celebration when a Land Rover drove through a fence and into the school grounds. Nuria Sajjad and her classmate Selena Lau, both aged eight, were killed, while more than a dozen others were injured.
Freemantle was initially investigated, but in June 2024 police said she had suffered an epileptic seizure and would not face charges. That decision was later overturned after concerns were raised by the victims’ families, prompting a reinvestigation.
She was rearrested and released under investigation in January last year.
Her lawyers have questioned the reversal of the earlier decision to take no further action. A statement from her legal team said there are "serious questions to be answered" over why the case was reopened.
Mark Jones, criminal defence partner at Payne Hicks Beach LLP, said she would be "tortured for the rest of her life by the dreadful loss and injury" and "remains utterly devastated" by what happened.
He added: "We believe that initial decision by the CPS [Crown Prosecution Service] was the right one in these tragic circumstances and that there are serious questions to be answered about the reasons for its reversal today."
The Metropolitan Police has acknowledged shortcomings in its initial handling of the case. In a statement, it said: "We are sorry for how we initially dealt with the incident and for the impact on those affected.
It added: "We must now let both criminal proceedings and the independent investigation run their course. However, following a review of the Roads and Transport Policing Command we will be fundamentally resetting how the Met investigates fatal and serious collisions."
Separately, the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) is examining the conduct of 11 Metropolitan Police staff over the investigation, including allegations that officers provided misleading information to families and failed in their handling of the case. The watchdog is also investigating claims of possible racial bias in the way the case was managed.
