Claire Freemantle, 49, sat behind her lawyer rather than in the dock at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday, wearing a dark-coloured trouser suit, as she faced two charges of causing death by dangerous driving over the deaths of eight-year-olds Nuria Sajjad and Selena Lau.
Seven further counts of causing serious injury by dangerous driving relate to five children and three mothers injured in the crash at The Study Prep school in Wimbledon in July 2023, as the school celebrated the last day of the summer term.
“Driver Claire Freemantle appears in court charged with killing two eight-year-old girls in 2023 Wimbledon school crash.”
Freemantle, of Edge Hill, Wimbledon, spoke only to confirm her identity and was not asked to enter any pleas. Her barrister, Sallie Bennett-Jenkins KC, requested that she be allowed to sit in the well of the court due to health concerns, which was granted by Chief Magistrate Paul Goldspring.
The injured include Nuria’s mother, Smera Chohan; another mother, Tamsyn Van De Vyver; a third mother and her seven-month-old baby; two eight-year-old girls; and a seven-year-old girl.
Criminal charges were only announced in May this year, after the girls’ families criticised the Metropolitan Police for its investigation. In June 2024, Scotland Yard had said the driver suffered an epileptic seizure and would face no charges. That decision was later reversed, with the Met apologising for its initial handling and the “impact on those affected”, adding it would “fundamentally reset how the Met investigates fatal and serious collisions”.
Freemantle’s lawyers have previously said she would plead not guilty. The chief magistrate sent the case to the Old Bailey for a hearing on 14 July and released Freemantle on unconditional bail.