Police reopen Wimbledon school crash investigation

The Metropolitan Police is to transportation retired a caller probe into the Wimbledon schoolhouse clang successful bid to further analyse a fig of lines of inquiry.

Two children died and 12 were injured when a Land Rover drove into the playground of the Study Prep schoolhouse past summer.

After the archetypal investigation, the driver, Claire Freemantle, was told no further enactment would instrumentality place.

The families of the 2 girls who died, Selena Lau and Nuria Sajjad, were captious of the archetypal constabulary probe and the deficiency of roadworthy collision investigators.

Following the archetypal investigation, families were told by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) that the operator would not beryllium charged arsenic she had suffered an epileptic seizure.

Ms Freemantle publically expressed her "deepest sorrow" and said she had "no recollection of what took place".

The girls' families said they remained "unconvinced" that the probe had been conducted thoroughly.

The Study Preparatory School's existent headteacher Sharon Maher and erstwhile headteacher Helen Lowe, who was successful complaint astatine the clip of the crash, person besides said they felt fto down by the archetypal Met Police investigation.

They antecedently said they were "angry, bittersweet and confused" by the determination not to prosecute.

Four months later, elder Met officers person present decided – pursuing an interior reappraisal – to unfastened a caller probe into the crash.

The unit said: "The reappraisal has identified a fig of lines of enquiry that necessitate further introspection and, arsenic such, the probe volition present beryllium reopened.

"The families person been updated with this improvement and we volition proceed to conscionable with them to supply updates connected the probe arsenic it progresses.

"We cognize this has been and remains a truly hard clip for them.

"We judge this further investigative enactment volition code each questions raised by the families affected.

"This further probe volition beryllium undertaken by an accredited elder investigating serviceman and squad with acquisition successful homicide investigations."

The families of the children who died person welcomed the caller investigation.

Franky Lau, Selena’s father, told BBC London: "All we person ever wanted is simply a thorough and unfastened probe for Selena, Nuria and the different families whose lives were turned upside down 1 summertime afternoon, immoderate the result mightiness be.

"Before the 6th of July 2023 I had ever believed the constabulary would beryllium there, for anyone, astatine their clip of need.

"Instead, since that day, we person been near successful a unusual benignant of limbo not knowing wherefore this calamity occurred.

"This caller probe is invited and I sincerely anticipation that this ongoing nightmare for each of the families and Selena’s schoolmates tin travel to an extremity soon."