IOPC Probes 11 Met Officers on Fatal School Crash Handling

The Independent Office for Police Conduct has launched an investigation into 11 Metropolitan Police officers for their handling of the initial probe into a fatal car crash at a Wimbledon primary school that killed two eight-year-old girls in July 2023.

Nuria Sajjad and Selena Lau died on July 6, 2023, when a Land Rover driven by Claire Freemantle veered off the road and crashed through a fence into The Study Preparatory School in southwest London. The girls were attending an end-of-term tea party on the school lawn at the time, and more than a dozen others, including family members, were injured. Freemantle, who had no prior criminal record, was arrested at the scene but released after police determined she suffered an undiagnosed epileptic seizure and had no recollection of the incident.

In June 2024, the Metropolitan Police announced that the Crown Prosecution Service would not pursue charges against Freemantle, citing insufficient evidence for criminal liability. The victims' families, however, expressed dissatisfaction, describing the initial investigation as flawed and incomplete. They filed a formal complaint in July 2025, prompting the Metropolitan Police's Directorate of...