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

Cue a bunch of responses saying things like “It’s not the type of car, it’s how you drive them!!” “This is about bad drivers, SUVs are no more dangerous than any other car!” (See also guns and XL bullies)

I read the article in The Times as well and feel desperately sorry for the parents of both girls, who clearly just need answers.

It does also seem odd that the driver hasn’t been named, usually the press will be tripping over themselves to print details from local sources etc. obviously I don’t need to know it just seems out of character for the newspapers to have gone quiet.

I assume if it was a medical issue then there would be no charge & therefore no name released.

True, but they named the guy driving the rubbish truck in Glasgow and that was a medical issue, but I don’t remember all of the details so it may not have been until official inquest.

I just think it’s unlikely that all journalists decided to just accept that the police weren’t going to give a name and not go digging for dirt, but who knows maybe they did just decide it wasn’t in the public interest.

I can’t understand why the comments about the op wanting the gory details

a car with a driver in went through the fence into a school while young children were having a tea party and two little girls died from their injuries and a number were also hurt, I think we all can imagine the gory details if we so wanted to but for most they don’t that isn’t the same as wondering why this happened it’s a question asked all the time when something is against the norm

Having seen both sets of parents of the little girls that died being interviewed both desperate for answers, the solicitors handling the case for the families involved have questioned the time it’s taken and it been heavily reported on why wouldn’t others want answers for them

its called compassion but op you made the awful mistake of posting a dm link 🙄 that comes with a whole heap of judgement from some. I can assure you if it was a BBC link the response would have been different

ignore op, it MN it’s just ridiculous at times

There is no such thing as closure. Nor justice.

Court cases do not bring closure, they're just something to direct your energy towards in desperation that it will ease the pain.

It doesn't. No verdict, no answers, nothing brings closure after a traumatic bereavement. It's always open, it's always there. It cannot be closed and put away neatly in a box someone.

Closure is a fantasy myth peddled by fiction and entertainment media (which is what newspapers are, whether you care to admit it or not).

The precedent of naming people on arrest was undermined by the Cliff Richard privacy case and then furthered by the Bloomberg judgment in summer 2022. Both judgments now make it almost impossible for the papers to name somebody on arrest because of the likelihood of them being sued for breach of privacy. That’s why she’s not been named, and why it’s very rare for the papers to name anyone now on arrest.

Privacy rights fall away when the person is charged. In this case, that’s when she’ll be named.

There are no current reporting restrictions on the case, for those asking above. And it’s got nothing to do with her means, it’s just standard privacy law.

I’m a journalist and this law affects us every day. It’s a law that suits very rich celebrities and means that when a public figure is arrested for, say, child abuse or rape, they cannot be named and continue working. Some of those people carry on working in the House of Commons, in high profile charities or in local councils. There’s not a thing we can do about it.

And a delay of more than a year in a case like this is perfectly normal. I was in a death by dangerous driving case last week that was from 2020. Some of the delay was because the analysis of the driver’s phone took nearly a year due to a lack of forensic lab staff and a huge backlog. The criminal justice system is hopelessly understaffed in every area.

Not necessarily, it depends on whether there could be culpability because of poor mangement of the disorder, was it disclosed, was it disclosable etc etc

But again, its not a long time since the incident in terms of things coming to court, its astounding that people think it is.

And to pick up on a point someone else made, phone records take an extraordinary amount of time to come back, we've waited well over 6 months somtimes just for these.

I’d almost forgotten about this incident. That poor mother sounds absolutely broken.
I hope they get some answers soon.

Totally with you on this OP. It’s a bloody disgrace and starting to look murky. These two ordinary families are desperate for answers and justice, quite rightly. And they’ve been left in limbo since July. Deep pockets talk. That car was offensive. Why anyone needs such a thing whizzing around a place like Wimbledon is beyond me. Speaks volumes about the driver.

@JaniceBattersby thanks for taking the time to give an explanation, that all makes complete sense and there would be nothing to be gained by the woman in this case being hounded by the press.

This just seems to be yet another example of how utterly inadequate our public services are, and whilst I agree with @passiveconstellation that there is no magic bullet of closure, delays in the inquiry are certainly not providing anything positive for the grieving families.

@JaniceBattersby thats really interesting thank you for explaining. I do feel for the woman obviously if it was a medical episode etc being publicly vilified for causing the two deaths by accident would be absolutely awful.
I also agree that something needs to do be done about these massive cars- will be interesting to see what happens in Paris. We cycle to school and SUVs are so much more dangerous and as a driver also really affect your ability to see at junctions etc when in a regular size car.

It's a horribly long wait for the parents, but understandable and as long as the police are doing everything they can and being thorough, then it will be worth the wait.

Ref. the vehicle involved. It was a new model Land Rover Defender. IMHO that's a step on from SUVs, and is a full on off road capable 4x4.

Justice will not be served. Killing someone with a car is barely an offence. The sentencing starting point is 2 years (so 1 year served) but I'm sure someone who can afford an £80k car can also afford a very good lawyer who can repeatedly remind all the car drivers on the jury that the defendant is just like them and any one of them could be in her shoes one day.

So, so sad. Those poor parents. The other set of parents gave an interview before Christmas as well. The police communication has been abysmal. Of course they want answers and culpability. Was she on her phone? Was she on medication? Had she been in a fit mental state to drive? I hope she isn't still frequenting the golf club by the school.

Not really sure why the OP is being given such a hard time but that's MN for you.

I watched an interview with the parents yesterday and the mother is broken. That family deserve answers, not for the police to be still 'investigating'.

They gave an interview with Vanessa Feltz, aired yesterday on Talk TV. Broke my heart listening to them. They seem to be totally in the dark about what's happening. How is this possible?!?! They're clearly desperate for some kind of intervention wrt the investigation if they're going to the media. They don't seem angry or vengeful, just absolutely broken and looking for an explanation.

Thanks for raising awareness of this, OP. I was not aware, and just assumed the family had some explanations that I'd missed. It must just increase the anguish to have it open-ended for so long. The families clearly want as much publicity as possible for this if they are giving interviews so there is really no harm in starting a thread on it.

The self righteous of MN can get on with cleaning their houses or whatever else they do with their time / thoughts, which is so much more valuable than the rest of us.

It's awful that the parents don't know what happened.

I also think there is a justified element of public interest regarding the involvement of the SUV. I'd like to see some kind of additional licence or insurance requirements for SUVs to prevent such incidents happening.

I think it’s everybody’s business that a large car shouldn’t just be “allowed” to drive into a school and kill two children with no consequences or explanation. This would certainly be classed as “in the public interest” information which would be shared with the public to reassure them. Desperately sad for the poor families involved and they, above anyone deserve answers.

A QC? Are you certain?

Think about it.

Anyhow, any injunction to prevent identifying a particular person in a high profile role with the assistance of very specific identifying family details would apply as much to your gossiping woman who apparently knows so much about it as you.

There’s an injunction, that’s why you haven’t heard anything.

Came across something recently for work where a baby was severely injured in Autumn 2022, the suspected perpetrator was arrested but bailed and still hasn't been charged. It's still under investigation by the police. All the witnesses have been interviewed, who knows what is causing a continued delay. Given the delays in the court system as well the poor kid will probably be at school by the time it reaches a trial (if it does).

What's that saying about justice delayed is justice denied...

Not surprised that the driver is able to buy privilege in the justice system. I think that was obviously going to be the case as soon as we saw the type of vehicle involved. I hope justice is done eventually.