Wimbledon school crash: New investigation welcomed by families

The parents of one of the two children who died in the Wimbledon school crash have said they hope a new investigation will end the “hell” they are going through and believe the victims “deserve answers”.

Franky Lau and Jessie Deng’s daughter Selena was one of two children who died and 12 injured when a Land Rover drove into the playground of the Study Prep school last summer.

The Metropolitan Police announced on Thursday the investigation had been reopened following an internal review which identified a number of lines of inquiry.

After the first investigation, the driver, Claire Freemantle, was told no further action would take place as she had suffered an epileptic seizure.

The families of the two girls who died were critical of the first police investigation and the lack of road collision investigators.

Speaking to the BBC on Thursday, Mr Lau said the decision to close the first investigation had left his family “upset”.

“We were confused at how they made their decision, because some of the things they told us just didn’t tally up to what we understood to have happened and what other witnesses saw,” he said.

Mr Lau added the families of those affected were concerned key witnesses had not been spoken to during the original investigation.

“We thought (the police) must have looked at certain pieces of evidence, obtained certain documents and interviewed certain people and I think they themselves have told us that that was not the case, and that’s why they’ve reopened (the investigation),” he said.

Mr Lau added his family would be “quite happy” to accept the original conclusion “if we were told the investigation was conducted thoroughly”, adding, “that is obviously not the case”.

“All we have ever wanted is a thorough and open investigation for Selena, Nuria and the other families whose lives were turned upside down one summer afternoon, whatever the outcome might be.

“This new investigation is welcome and I sincerely hope that this ongoing nightmare for all of the families and Selena’s schoolmates can come to an end soon.”

Both of Selena’s parents say they have recurrent nightmares since the crash.

Ms Deng said she dreamt about trying to pick her daughter up from school.

In the dream, she said she says to Selena “let’s go home” to which her daughter replies: “I can’t go home anymore, mummy.”

Ms Deng went on to say that reopening the investigation was like going back to the day of the crash.

“After 15 months we’ve been waiting for the answer, but we didn’t get anywhere, and now we have to start from scratch again. We are reliving that pain again,” she said.

Nuria’s father, Saj Butt, said he hoped the new investigation would begin a “healing process”.

“The initial investigation seemed flawed and left so many unanswered questions,” he said.

“While we know nothing will bring Nuria back, we hope this new investigation will finally uncover what really happened on 6 July 2023, and at last allow us, and the hundreds of others affected by what happened, to begin some sort of healing process.”

Following the conclusion of the first investigation, the driver of the car, Ms Freemantle, publicly expressed her “deepest sorrow” and said she had “no recollection of what took place”.

The Study Preparatory School’s current headteacher Sharon Maher and former headteacher Helen Lowe, who was in charge at the time of the crash, have previously said they felt let down by the first Met Police investigation.

In a statement on Thursday, the teachers said they welcomed a new investigation.

They said: “We have always wanted a full and thorough investigation to determine what led to the terrible events of that day.

“It appears that the first investigation, concluded in July 2024, may not have pursued all avenues of enquiry so the school is hopeful that a new investigation will do so.”

Senior Met officers say the case will be reopened following an “internal review”.

The force said the review had “identified a number of lines of inquiry that require further examination”.

“The families have been updated with this development and we will continue to meet with them to provide updates on the investigation as it progresses,” the force added.

“We know this has been and remains a really difficult time for them.

“We believe this further investigative work will address all questions raised by the families affected.

“This further investigation will be undertaken by an accredited senior investigating officer and team with experience in homicide investigations.”