Tragic victim Selena Lau (Image: PA)
A female 4X4 driver has been re-arrested by police probing a horror car crash into a school playground that resulted in two eight-year-old girls being crushed to death, almost a year after she was “released under investigation”.
Detectives investigating the fatal collision at the Study Prep School in Wimbledon in July 2023 have re-arrested the now 48-year-old driver as part of their ongoing investigation, as they appealed for further potential witnesses to come forward.
The woman was arrested earlier today on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving and is currently in custody.
This is the second time she has been arrested for this offence, the first time being at the scene of the collision on 6 July 2023.
Last February said the woman, from Wimbledon, had been released under investigation. That meant while enquiries are ongoing she no longer has to abide by bail conditions.
File photo dated 6/7/2023 of a Land Rover Defender inside the grounds of The Study Preparatory Schoo (Image: PA)
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Pupils Nuria Sajjad and Selena Lau – both eight years old – died from horrific internal injuries after the high-powered gold-coloured Land Rover ploughed through a fence and collided with a building at the school.
The school was hosting an end-of-term outdoor tea party on the morning of July 6 last year when the car suddenly ploughed into a group of over a dozen adults and children.
An initial investigation by the Roads and Transport Policing Command (RTPC) resulted in a direction from the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) in June 2024 that the driver should face no further action.
But after “specific concerns” were raised by the grieving families of Nuria and Selena regarding this outcome, it was agreed the Specialist Crime Review Group (SCRG) would carry out a review of the investigation. That review identified lines of enquiry which required further examination.
In October the investigation was moved to the Specialist Crime Command, under Detective Superintendent Lewis Basford, who has been heading a team who have since been pursuing new lines of enquiry identified by the review.
Undated family handout photo issued by the Metropolitan Police of eight-year-old Nuria Sajjad who wa (Image: PA)
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Det Supt Basford said: “I would like to take this opportunity to appeal to any witnesses or individuals with information who are yet to speak to police to please come forward.
“Were you attending the local golf course or driving in or around the area of the Study Prep School in Wimbledon at the time of the collision? Did you see the vehicle – a distinctive gold Land Rover Defender – in the lead up to the collision? We believe there were people in the local area who have not been spoken to by police and remain unidentified. I would ask those individuals to please contact us.
“Our main priority is to ensure the lines of enquiry identified by the review are progressed. This is a live investigation and in order to maintain its integrity I can’t go into further detail at this stage. I would urge people to avoid speculation.”
Inquests into the tragedy have been opened and adjourned at Inner West London Coroner’s Court.
Last year November Nuria’s parents, Smera Chohan and Sajjad Butt, called for “justice” and “accountability” over the crash.
Ms Chohan said: “She was our perfect girl and she was crushed to death. The buck has to stop with someone.”
Family lawyer Trevor Sterling added: “This vehicle took the lives of two girls, and we still don’t have answers as to why.”
Meanwhile Selena’s parents Franky and Jessie Lau, both 45, expressed agonising frustration over the length of the police investigation.
In an emotionally charged TV interview with Daily Express columnist Vanessa Feltz, the couple broke down in tears as they revealed how they are haunted by the guilt of not being with their “funny, cheeky daughter” when she died.
They also released heartbreaking footage of Selena performing Scott Joplin’s The Entertainer on the piano just minutes before she was killed.
Moments after she was given a warm round of applause and the concert finished, pupils and their families went outside for the picnic, when the £80,000 car smashed through a fence.
Jessie wept as she recalled seeing her daughter’s body after receiving a phone call from the school reception telling her to get to school as quickly as possible because “something really serious” has happened.
She said: “It was the end of my world. I first saw her lying on a bed near the reception area. So alone with a tube in her mouth, blood stains and bruises on her face. It comes flashing back every day, every night, and I wish that was me lying there not her, I wish I could swap with her, I’d give anything I have to have her back.”
Franky, who had been working from home, had already made his way to the school.
He added: “We replay that day in our head every day. Was there anything we could have done to make that not happen?
“Should I have gone to see the performance? She would have been speaking to me for an extra few seconds, which would have made all the difference.
Expressing his frustration at the police probe the devastated father added: “I like to think I have faith in the police, but at this point, we don’t have much confidence. We just want answers, we want justice for our daughter.”