Wimbledon school crash

Last updated

Wimbledon school crash
Wimbledon school crash
Date6 July 2023 (2023-07-06)
Time09:54 (BST (UTC+1))
LocationThe Study Preparatory School
Wimbledon, London
Coordinates 51°25′34.38″N0°13′54.3″W / 51.4262167°N 0.231750°W / 51.4262167; -0.231750
Type Traffic collision
Deaths2
Non-fatal injuries14

Shortly before 09:54 BST on 6 July 2023, a Land Rover Defender crashed into an end-of-year tea party and injured several people, mainly children, at The Study, a girls' preparatory school in Wimbledon, south-west London, England. [1] [2] [3] An eight-year-old girl died later that day and another on 9 July. [2] The driver of the car, 46-year-old Claire Freemantle from Wimbledon, [2] [4] [5] was arrested and bailed on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving. [2] [4] [6] No charges were brought after it was established that the driver had suffered a first epileptic seizure. [7]

Contents

The crash was widely reported on the front pages of national newspapers on the day after the crash, [8] [9] and inspired several acts of vandalism against SUVs in the United Kingdom. [3] [10] [11] The case was re-opened in October 2024 after the two girls' families raised concerns about the investigation. The driver was arrested again in January 2025. [12]

Incident

The Study Preparatory School in February 2011 The Round School, (now The Study), Camp Road, Wimbledon Common (geograph 2267092).jpg
The Study Preparatory School in February 2011

At 09:54 BST on 6 July 2023, the London Ambulance Service received calls of a collision at an end-of-year tea party at The Study Preparatory School, a preparatory school for girls aged four to eleven in Wimbledon's Camp Road, at the edge of Wimbledon Common. [1] [2] [13] A Land Rover Defender had crashed through the school's wooden fence and into a building. [2] [14] It was the school's last day before the summer holidays. [14]

The London Ambulance Service declared a major incident. [6] Fifteen ambulances and thirty-five police vehicles were dispatched to the scene, as well as the London Air Ambulance. [1] [2] [6] [4] Sixteen patients were treated at the school and ten patients were hospitalised. [1] [6] Those injured included pupils, parents and carers, but not school staff. [4] Wimbledon and Putney Commons, who manage the Common, urged the public to stay away from the area to allow free access to the emergency services. [14] [15] The incident prompted "the largest local policing deployment in south-west London since 2017". [4]

An eight-year-old girl died on the day of the crash. A second eight-year-old girl died on 9 July at St George's Hospital. [2] By the end of July, all the hospitalised children had returned home. [16]

Reactions

The crash prompted statements from politicians including Stephen Hammond, Wimbledon's MP, [14] [6] [17] Sadiq Khan, the Mayor of London, [6] [18] Gillian Keegan, the Education Secretary, [14] Suella Braverman, the Home Secretary, [6] Yvette Cooper, the Shadow Home Secretary, [6] [15] and a spokesman for the Prime Minister. [6] [15] Merton Council offered counselling to affected pupils, staff, and families. [2]

The incident was widely reported on the front pages of national newspapers the day following the crash. [8] [9] The crash took place during the first week of the 2023 Wimbledon Championships, hosted at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club 0.9 miles (1.4 kilometres) northeast of the school. [2] [6] [17]

Norman Baker, the former Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport, commented after the crash that 4x4s are "completely inappropriate for urban locations". [10]

A week following the crash, anti-SUV campaigners in Broughty Ferry, a suburb of Dundee, vandalised a Range Rover and left a warning letter with headshots of the deceased girls. [10] [11] In August 2023, the Tyre Extinguishers activist group described their puncturing of the tyres of more than 60 SUVs at a Land Rover dealership in Exeter as an "act of retaliation" to the incident in Wimbledon. [3]

Investigations

The crash was not considered to be terror-related. [1] The driver, a 46-year-old woman from Wimbledon, [2] [4] was hospitalised with a non-life threatening condition. [4] She was arrested and bailed on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving. [2] [6] [4]

On 12 July, inquests into the two girls' deaths were adjourned at Inner West London Coroner's Court. [19] On 20 July, the driver was rebailed until late September 2023. [16] On 23 September, she was rebailed until January 2024. [20]

In November 2023, [21] Moore Barlow, a law firm supporting twenty families affected by the crash, [22] [23] publicly questioned the delay in the case. [21] The parents of the second girl who died spoke to BBC London. [21] [24] [25] On 31 December, in an interview article with The Times , the parents released a photo of the mother and daughter taken moments before the crash. [26] [22]

On 1 February 2024, the driver was released pending investigation. [27] The lawyer representing the families criticised the decision as providing "no time scale" to the investigation's conclusion, calling on a "new protocol… where investigations by the police should be carried out expeditiously". [23] The parents of the first girl spoke to Vanessa Feltz on TalkTV, expressing their lack of confidence in the Metropolitan Police and criticising the delay in the investigation. [28] [29] They released a video of the girl playing The Entertainer on the piano at the school concert preceding the crash. [30] The Met confirmed the delay was due to a lack of specialist investigators. [31]

On 26 June 2024, the CPS announced the driver would not face charges because she had suffered an epileptic seizure whilst driving, [5] a condition she had not been previously diagnosed with and which could not have been anticipated. [32] Neurological specialists concluded that the event was the first such medical episode that the driver had experienced. [7] Mark Jones, a partner at Payne Hicks Beach and Claire Freemantle's solicitor, responded to the CPS's announcement by stating that although Freemantle was driving when the accident occurred, she was not in control of the vehicle and was not at fault for the incident. [33]

On 4 July 2024, the Metropolitan Police announced that they were reviewing their investigation. [32]

On 28 January 2025, the driver was arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving. [34]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Selby rail crash</span> 2001 rail crash in North Yorkshire, England

The Selby rail crash was a railway accident that occurred on 28 February 2001 near Great Heck, Selby, North Yorkshire when a passenger train collided with a car which had crashed down a motorway embankment onto the railway line. The passenger train then collided with an oncoming freight train. Ten people died, including the drivers of the two trains, and 82 were injured. It remains the worst rail disaster of the 21st century in the United Kingdom.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Humberside Police</span> English territorial police force

Humberside Police is the territorial police force responsible for policing the East Riding of Yorkshire, including Kingston upon Hull, and northern parts of Lincolnshire, including Grimsby and Scunthorpe.

Levi Bellfield is an English serial killer, sex offender, rapist, kidnapper, and burglar. He was found guilty on 25 February 2008 of the murders of Marsha McDonnell and Amélie Delagrange and the attempted murder of Kate Sheedy, and sentenced to life imprisonment. On 23 June 2011, Bellfield was further found guilty of the murder of Milly Dowler. On both occasions, the judge imposed a whole life order, meaning that Bellfield will serve the sentence without the possibility of parole. Bellfield was the first prisoner in history to have received two whole life orders.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Murder of Milly Dowler</span> 2002 murder of English schoolgirl

On 21 March 2002, Amanda Jane "Milly" Dowler, a 13-year-old English schoolgirl, was reported missing by her parents after failing to return home from school and not being seen since walking along Station Avenue in Walton-on-Thames, Surrey, that afternoon. Following an extensive search, her remains were discovered in Yateley Heath Woods in Yateley, Hampshire, on 18 September.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2007 London car bombs</span> Averted terrorist attack

On 29 June 2007, two car bombs in London were discovered and disabled before they could be detonated. The first device was left near the Tiger Tiger nightclub in Haymarket at around 01:30, and the second was left in Cockspur Street, located in close proximity to the nightclub.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Conspiracy theories about the death of Diana, Princess of Wales</span>

There are many conspiracy theories surrounding the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, on 31 August 1997. Official investigations in both Britain and France found that Diana died in a manner consistent with media reports following the fatal car crash in Paris. In 1999, a French investigation concluded that Diana died as the result of a crash. French investigator, Judge Hervé Stephan, concluded that the paparazzi were some distance from the Mercedes S280 when it crashed and were not responsible for manslaughter. After hearing evidence at the British inquest, a jury in 2008 returned a verdict of "unlawful killing" by driver Henri Paul and the paparazzi pursuing the car. The jury's verdict also stated: "In addition, the death of the deceased was caused or contributed to by the fact that the deceased were not wearing a seat belt and by the fact that the Mercedes struck the pillar in the Pont de l'Alma tunnel rather than colliding with something else."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jaguar Land Rover</span> British multinational automotive company

Jaguar Land Rover Automotive PLC is the holding company of Jaguar Land Rover, also known as JLR, and is a British multinational automobile manufacturer which produces luxury vehicles and SUV and has its head office in Whitley, Coventry, United Kingdom. The principal activity of Jaguar Land Rover is the design, development, manufacture and sale of vehicles bearing the Jaguar and Land Rover marques.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">MG Motor</span> Car brand owned by SAIC Motor

MG Motor is an automotive brand owned by SAIC Motor, a Chinese state-owned carmaker based in Shanghai. It is a continuation of the original MG marque, a British brand founded in Oxford, UK, in 1924. SAIC Motor gained control of the brand in December 2007 by acquiring Nanjing Automobile Corporation (NAC), which had initially taken over the brand from the defunct MG Rover Group in 2005. Currently, MG operates as a division within SAIC's passenger vehicle branch.

A child sex abuse ring targeted underage teenage girls in Rochdale, Greater Manchester, England. Nine men were convicted of sex trafficking and other offences including rape, trafficking girls for sex and conspiracy to engage in sexual activity with a child in May 2012. This resulted in Greater Manchester Police launching Operation Doublet and other operations to investigate further claims of abuse. As of January 2024 a total of 42 men had been convicted resulting in jail sentences totalling 432 years. Forty-seven girls were identified as victims of child sexual exploitation during the initial police investigation. The men were British Pakistanis, which led to discussion on whether the failure to investigate them was linked to the authorities' fear of being accused of racial prejudice. The girls were mainly White British.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Operation Yewtree</span> British police investigation against Jimmy Savile and others

Operation Yewtree was a British police investigation into sexual abuse allegations, predominantly the abuse of children, against the English media personality Jimmy Savile and others. The investigation, led by the Metropolitan Police (Met), started in October 2012. After a period of assessment, it became a full criminal investigation, involving inquiries into living people, notably other celebrities, as well as Savile, who had died the previous year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2014 Glasgow bin lorry crash</span> 2014 fatal incident in Scotland, UK

On 22 December 2014 a bin lorry collided with pedestrians in the city centre of Glasgow, Scotland, killing six and injuring fifteen others. The driver of the council-owned vehicle, Harry Clarke, said he had passed out at the wheel. A similar blackout had happened to him in the driving seat of a bus. He had not disclosed that incident on his heavy goods vehicle licence renewal application, despite such self-reporting being mandatory. Clarke was officially told he would not face further prosecution, causing protests from victims' families at the way the case had been handled.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2015 Graz car attack</span> Vehicle attack in Graz, Austria

On 20 June 2015, Alen Rizvanović drove a sports utility vehicle at high speeds through the center of Graz, Austria, killing three people in a matter of minutes and injuring 43 others, one of them dying months later. At one point during the attack, Rizvanović got out of the vehicle and stabbed two passers-by.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2016 Croydon tram derailment</span> 2016 fatal derailment in south London

On 9 November 2016, a tram operated by Tramlink in London derailed and overturned on a sharp bend approaching a junction. Of 69 passengers, there were seven fatalities and 62 injured, 19 of whom sustained serious injuries. This was the first tram incident in the United Kingdom in which passengers died since 1959.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2018 Westminster car attack</span> Car attack in Westminster

On 14 August 2018, three people were injured when a silver Ford Fiesta hit them near the Palace of Westminster, London, England. The car then went on to crash into the separation barrier of the pavement situated between St Margaret Street / Abingdon Street and Old Palace Yard. The Metropolitan Police responded within seconds and arrested the driver, Salih Khater, without further incident. An ambulance immediately behind the Ford stopped and gave assistance to the injured. Khater was subsequently found guilty of two counts of attempted murder and sentenced to life in prison.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Death of Harry Dunn</span> Fatal road traffic collision resulting in UK/US diplomatic controversy

Harry Dunn was a 19-year-old British man who died following a road traffic collision on 27 August 2019. He was riding his motorcycle near Croughton, Northamptonshire, near the exit to RAF Croughton, when a car travelling in the opposite direction and on the wrong side of the road collided with him. The car was driven by Anne Sacoolas, who was working for the United States Intelligence Community at the time of the collision; she is married to CIA employee Jonathan Sacoolas, stationed at the time at USAF listening station RAF Croughton. Sacoolas admitted that she had been driving the car on the wrong side of the road, and the police said that, based on CCTV footage, they believed that to be true. Dunn was pronounced dead at the Major Trauma Centre of John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kirkby train crash</span> 2021 railway crash in the United Kingdom

On 13 March 2021, a Class 507 electric multiple unit operated by Merseyrail collided with the buffer stop at Kirkby railway station, Merseyside, United Kingdom. The only injury was the driver of the train. The cause was found to be that the driver was using a mobile phone whilst driving. The distraction led him to enter the station at excessive speed. He was dismissed from Merseyrail and later prosecuted, pleading guilty to a charge of endangering the safety of people on the railway, for which he received a 12-month suspended sentence.

Events of the year 2023 in England.

Events of the year 2024 in England.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Seven children hurt as Land Rover crashes into Wimbledon school | Page 1". BBC News . 6 July 2023. Retrieved 6 July 2023.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 "Second girl, 8, dies from injuries after Wimbledon school crash". BBC News . 9 July 2023. Retrieved 9 July 2023.
  3. 1 2 3 Gregory, Andy (7 August 2023). "Activists target Land Rover dealership in 'retaliation' for Wimbledon school crash". The Independent. Retrieved 9 August 2023.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Clarke, Amy (10 July 2023). "Everything we know as car crashes into Wimbledon school leaving two girls dead". The Wimbledon Times . Retrieved 12 July 2023.
  5. 1 2 "Wimbledon school crash: Woman faces no charges over girls' deaths". BBC News. 26 June 2024. Retrieved 26 June 2024.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Rawlinson, Kevin; Davies, Caroline (6 July 2023). "Several children injured in London primary school car crash". The Guardian . Retrieved 6 July 2023.
  7. 1 2 "CPS Statement: Decision not to charge in relation to fatal collision at The Study Prep School, Wimbledon". www.cps.gov.uk. The Crown Prosecution Service. 26 June 2024. Retrieved 4 July 2024.
  8. 1 2 "Newspaper headlines: 'Tea party horror' and 'strike to ground flights'". BBC News . 6 July 2023. Retrieved 9 July 2023.
  9. 1 2 "Top Stories". The Guardian . 7 July 2023. Retrieved 9 July 2023.
  10. 1 2 3 Roberts, Lizzie (15 July 2023). "'Will it be your SUV next?' Vandals target car after death crash". The Sunday Times . ISSN   0140-0460 . Retrieved 16 July 2023.
  11. 1 2 Hamilton, Lindsey (13 July 2023). "Range Rover vandalised in Broughty Ferry with neighbours threatened 'will it be your Suv next?'". The Courier . Retrieved 16 July 2023.
  12. ↑ Dugan, Emily (28 January 2025). "Wimbledon school crash driver arrested in reopened investigation". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 28 January 2025.
  13. ↑ "Map of Wimbledon and Putney Commons" (PDF). Wimbledon and Putney Commons . Retrieved 9 July 2023.
  14. 1 2 3 4 5 Evans, Martin; Bird, Steve; Murphy, Michael (7 July 2023). "Wimbledon crash: Girl, 8, dead and 10 injured after car ploughs into school". The Telegraph . ISSN   0307-1235 . Retrieved 9 July 2023.
  15. 1 2 3 "Wimbledon school crash: Girl, 8, dies after car hits building". BBC News . 6 July 2023. Retrieved 9 July 2023.
  16. 1 2 Salisbury, Josh (28 July 2023). "Wimbledon crash injured all out of hospital, say police, as driver rebailed". Evening Standard . Retrieved 4 August 2023.
  17. 1 2 "Wimbledon school: Girl, 8, dies after car crashes into building | Page 2". BBC News . 6 July 2023. Retrieved 9 July 2023.
  18. ↑ Khan, Sadiq (6 July 2023). "Statement on Wimbledon events". Twitter . Retrieved 9 June 2023.
  19. ↑ Vaughan, Henry (1 February 2024). "Woman arrested over deaths of two eight-year-old girls in Wimbledon school crash released under investigation". Sky News . Retrieved 26 February 2024.
  20. ↑ Walker, Amy (23 September 2023). "Woman arrested over fatal Wimbledon school crash rebailed". The Observer . ISSN   0029-7712 . Retrieved 11 October 2023.
  21. 1 2 3 Sterling, Trevor (16 November 2023). "Wimbledon fatal school crash". Moore Barlow LLP. Retrieved 28 December 2023.
  22. 1 2 Evans, Holly (31 December 2023). "Mother left with broken bones in school crash says she couldn't give dying daughter final hug". The Independent . Retrieved 26 February 2024.
  23. 1 2 Watson, Eve (5 February 2024). "Parents want answers over girl's school crash death". BBC News . Retrieved 26 February 2024.
  24. ↑ Burrell, Miriam (15 November 2023). "'We are not coping': Parents of Wimbledon school crash victim search for answers". Evening Standard . Retrieved 28 December 2023.
  25. ↑ "Parents of eight-year-old killed in prep school crash call for 'accountability'". The Independent . 15 November 2023. Retrieved 28 November 2023.
  26. ↑ Keogh, Glen (31 December 2023). "Our girl smiled for this photo. Seconds later a Land Rover hit the school". The Times . Retrieved 26 February 2024.
  27. ↑ Chantler-Hicks, Lydia (1 February 2024). "Woman arrested over Wimbledon crash that killed two schoolgirls released under investigation". London Evening Standard . Retrieved 26 February 2024.
  28. ↑ Davis, Margaret (5 February 2024). "Wimbledon school crash: Sister of girl killed 'sobs at night', devastated mum says". London Evening Standard . Retrieved 26 February 2024.
  29. ↑ Clarke, Amy (5 February 2024). "The Study Prep Wimbledon school crash: Family 'waiting for answers'". Your Local Guardian . Retrieved 26 February 2024.
  30. ↑ Bolton, Will (5 February 2024). "Video shows Wimbledon crash girl playing piano moments before car ploughs into school". The Telegraph . Retrieved 26 February 2024.
  31. ↑ "Wimbledon school crash: Lack of forensic officers delays case". BBC News. 23 April 2024. Retrieved 19 July 2024.
  32. 1 2 "Met police to review investigation of deadly car crash at Wimbledon school". Guardian. Retrieved 4 July 2024.
  33. ↑ "Driver of 4×4 to face no further action after crash which killed two schoolgirls". Yahoo News. 27 June 2024. Retrieved 19 July 2024.
  34. ↑ Media, P. A. (28 January 2025). "Wimbledon school crash driver arrested in reopened investigation". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 28 January 2025.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.