When will the parents of the children killed in the Wimbledon crash get an answer?

[GotMooMilk]

Sorry for the daily fail link. This story really resonated with me at the time as I used to work at St Georges and lived close to Wimbledon. It's been ages and those poor parents still have no answers.

What do you think happened? Before people say it's horrible to speculate and none of my business- I know but my kids are similar age and I feel heartbroken for them and you'd be desperate for some kind of closure.

Heartbreaking footage shows Wimbledon crash victim Selena Lau, eight, playing the piano at an end-of-term tea party before Land Rover smashed into grounds of school killing her and another classmate | Daily Mail Online

@soupfiend no, I don’t. But this isn’t some big, international, cross-border, lengthy involvement. As a lay person, I would’ve thought the police would be more competent and the justice system would work a bit smoother and quicker.

But you dont know whats involved do you?

You dont know what information they have or dont have, what evidence they have or dont have, what can be used and what cant be used, what witnesses they have and dont have and who can be used and who cant. You dont know anything about the investigation at all.

Yet here you are proclaiming it should all be 'smooth' as if you even know what that means in terms of these procedures

I have a relative who was charged with a driving offence that took 18 months to reach court (found not guilty) and that was pre-pandemic

There are huge backlogs in courts as a result of the past few years.

Don't expect to hear anything soon.

I'm not sure we will? But I thought we knew the driver had some kind of health issues at the time of the crash (could've made that up but I'm sure I read it)

Whats been playing on my mind is knowing if the babies who were stabbed in the french play park are ok. Horrific.

This is exactly what OP meant, it’s the worst of human nature isn’t it

We got one… months after sentencing and long after the band had packed up and left, so to speak. We needed them during the investigation, not after. 🙄
It wouldn’t surprise me at all if they’re in the dark. It’s utterly tragic and the investigation itself will be a whole other trauma on top of their enormous loss.

This isn't about the public knowing, the parents are desperate to understand and know what happened to their children and have given several interviews to the media to keep the story fresh in people mind.

I don't understand why the parents aren't being updated with developments several months on. Two children died that day. Their parents deserve to know why.

Oh, stop wagging your finger @soupfiend It’s all a bit crap, isn’t it? I’ve said I don’t know. That doesn’t stop me from expecting better.

I thought I read the same

But that could have a number of implications which I wont speculate on here, all manner of combinations making the argument for but also against prosecution depending on whats happened.

But it happening in July, theres no way anything would be concluded by now, Im quite surprised people dont understand this.

More raising an eyebrow in surprise at you, not finger wagging

You accept you dont know but then say you 'expect better', if you dont know what is going on, how do you know that better/best isnt already happening, you know nothing about the investigation.

For all you know the woman has absolutely no case to answer but the police may be pushing and pushing for a prosecution inappropriately and so are twisting and turning all over the place trying to get evidence for that

For all you know the woman has a case to answer and the expert examinations of everything needed are on hold because this or that expert has a huge backlog, or have been off sick themselves so cant complete their examination/report, cant supply it, perhaps something was missed in their work and so the police have asked for it to be redone.

You have no idea of whats involved in this sort of thing but you in fact are finger wagging at everyone else!

Have it your way @soupfiend You’ve informed me, but not convinced me. It’s pathetic.

It is very very sad and beyond awful that the families are having to wait so long. Anything to do with court takes a very long time.

I've only been involved with court /legal system pre pandemic and thankfully relatively straightforward issues yet these still took ages after the actual event

This is what I mean. They deserve answers- I’m not saying we should all be privy to the ins and outs but at the end of the day it’s news and the families want it to stay news so the whole thing isn’t swept under a rug.

It does seem an excessive length of time to ascertain whether the driver has a case to answer or not.

In Australia a man drove into a pub’s outdoor seating area and killed several people. He had a medical condition however allegedly he ignored multiple warnings from his implanted device. So, quite a complex case. The accident was in November last year and he was charged in December. He’s on bail awaiting trial and that part could take quite some time. But at least the families know the basics of what happened that day.

It may be the driver is suicidal with guilt and that’s why they aren’t being named.

It’ll be served when it goes to court!

You know this.

Successful prosecutions take time to put together. There may also be reporting restrictions.

If the driver is saying they had a medical issue behind the wheel (reasonably likely I'd have thought in this case), it'll take a while.

Assuming its a medical issue, police need to determine if the medical problem exists, whether it impacted driving, to what extent it impacted the driver, if there were any warning signs prior to the crash (ie was the driver negligent to get behind the wheel), before they can even decide if there should be a charge or if its just a horrible accident. It may not be a straight forward answer.

The parents aren't going to be told any information about the drivers medical info so there may well not be an update at this stage.

I live quite close by and it was so shocking and upsetting.

The families deserve to know what happened and for this not to be dragged out beyond what is necessary, as this will impact their grieving.

I would also like to know for sure what happened, because I've heard that it was a SUV involved, and that a normal car would not have been able to mount the kerb and crash through the fence and kill the children.

SUVs are a growing menace on the roads in areas where there is no practical need for them, but they are kicking out hugely increased pollution and present hugely increased danger. A child is 14 TIMES more likely to be killed if hit by a SUV than if hit by an ordinary car. Yet most people seem unaware of this. So yes, we do need to know what happened here, and no, not because we're ghouls, but because we want to reduce the risk of it happening again.

Actually I don’t think PP is far off the mark. My understanding is the driver has very high level legal representation and therefore influence over delaying the outcome being made public.

The family held an interview with The Times over the weekend. They are desperate for answers, and I don't blame them.

I read this & it was desperately sad. I know the families have launched a civil case & certainly in the press interviews they feel let down & some but parents have seen the driver about which is adding to the pain.

Is it normal for there not to be a name published? I perhaps wrongly also assumed they have serious money.

I suspect the police are facing hurdles such as needing to get app records off tech companies or perhaps awaiting the car manufacturer report on some aspect or other (e.g. condition of brakes).
This case should really not take long otherwise.
My heart broke for the parents of Selena Lau who felt guilty because they were there, instead it was a granny who attended. But which of us hasn’t sent someone else in our place for school events?
RIP little girls. I wish only the best for the parents and other family members.

Considering the area and the vehicle involved, I'm not exactly shocked that somebody potentially facing such serious charges has got the best legal representation they can (whether funded by personal wealth or legal expenses cover) rather than settling for the cheapest baby lawyer from a provincial market town practice that usually deals with public rights of way and the odd drunken farmer's son kicking over a pot plant on the way back from their local.

As if you'd 'know' anything and then start gossiping about it in any case...

Wowsers I’m surprised by some of the responses on the thread. I don’t tend to go in for gossiping & speculation but reading the interview it definitely felt like the parents wanted to keep the case in the spotlight & put pressure on.

It’s not “nobody’s business.” I would like to see tighter controls being put on enormous vehicles. Paris has just voted to triple parking charges for SUVs, which is a start.