Claire Freemantle Wimbledon charge deepens after 2023 crash
Claire Freemantle Wimbledon has moved from a closed police inquiry to prosecution, after being charged over the 2023 school crash that killed two eight-year-old girls and injured others. She faces two counts of causing death by dangerous driving, and the case will now proceed to trial.
The Study Prep crash
Freemantle was charged over the crash at The Study Prep school in Wimbledon, where her Land Rover went through the railings in the grounds of the south-west London school. Selena Lau and Nuria Sajjad were killed on 6 July 2023 while pupils and parents were celebrating the last day of term on the lawn.
The charge sheet goes beyond the two deaths. Freemantle also faces seven offences of causing serious injury by dangerous driving, reflecting the number of children and adults hurt when the vehicle entered the school grounds.
Police review and reopening
The case did not reach this point quickly. The Metropolitan Police first ended its investigation in June 2024 with no charges, after prosecutors said Freemantle had had an undiagnosed epileptic seizure. Freemantle said then: “I have no recollection of what happened.” She also expressed “deepest sorrow.”
That decision did not settle the matter. The Metropolitan Police reopened its investigation later in 2024, and Freemantle was re-arrested in January 2025 on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving. Separately, the Independent Office for Police Conduct is investigating 11 Metropolitan Police officers over their handling of the initial inquiry, including four serving officers and one former detective constable for possible gross misconduct.
Parents press for answers
Selena Lau and Nuria Sajjad’s parents said they were “one step closer to finding out why our children died” after the charge. They added that in June 2024 they rejected the Crown Prosecution Service’s decision to take no further action because they did not believe it had been made on the full facts.
They also said the Metropolitan Police Specialist Crime Review Group’s findings, the reopening of the investigation, and the need to obtain extensive new evidence over the last two years had vindicated their position. Their statement ended with a line that now matches the direction of the case: “With the decision to charge Freemantle, the case will now proceed to trial. We are one step closer to understanding why Nuria and Selena were killed and why so many others were harmed.”
