Driver in fatal primary school crash released on bail

The driver of a 4×4 that ploughed into a primary school killing two eight-year-old girls has been released on bail pending further investigations.

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.

Claire Freemantle, 48, was rearrested on Tuesday after bereaved families criticised the police investigation into the tragedy.

In June last year, the Metropolitan Police said she 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.

The Met confirmed on Thursday that she is due to report to a police station in late April.

Last summer, prosecutors found Ms Freemantle had never had an epileptic seizure before and was in good health before the crash.

In a statement to the PA news agency at the time, Ms Freemantle 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.

“Were you attending the local golf course or driving in or around the area of The Study Prep school in Wimbledon at the time of the collision?

“Did you see the vehicle – a distinctive gold Land Rover Defender – in the lead-up to the collision?

“We believe there were people in the local area who have not been spoken to by police and remain unidentified. I would ask those individuals to please contact us.

“Our main priority is to ensure the lines of inquiry identified by the review are progressed. This is a live investigation and in order to maintain its integrity I can’t go into further detail at this stage. I would urge people to avoid speculation.”