Woman arrested for second time over girls' school crash deaths

The driver of a car that crashed into a school tea party, killing two eight-year-old girls in south-west London, has been rearrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving, the Met Police has said.

Claire Freemantle, 48, previously expressed her "deepest sorrow" and said she had "no recollection of what took place" after the deaths of Nuria Sajjad and Selena Lau in Wimbledon on 6 July 2023.

The Met said it had reviewed its investigation following the decision last June not to charge the driver.

Det Supt Lewis Basford said: "This is a live investigation and in order to maintain its integrity I can't go into further detail at this stage."

The force said it had acted in response to "concerns raised by the families of Nuria and Selena" regarding the Crown Prosecution's Service's decision not to charge the driver.

Ms Freemantle was first arrested at the scene of the crash at the Study Preparatory School.

Following an investigation the CPS said Ms Freemantle had suffered an epileptic seizure behind the wheel, which caused her to lose control of the vehicle that then drove into the school.

As a result this meant she would not be charged, it said.

At the time, her solicitor said her epilepsy had "never previously manifested itself" and Ms Freemantle "had always enjoyed good health".

The victims' families have said hundreds of people, including parents, teachers, children, neighbours, friends and family members, would never be able to lead "normal" lives again as a result of the crash.