Wimbledon school crash: Parents share last photo of Nuria Sajjad
2024-01-05
Category: news

The parents of a girl killed when a Land Rover crashed through a fence at her school have shared a photograph taken of her just before she died, as they try to find answers about their daughter's death.Nuria Sajjad, eight, and her mother Smera Chohan had just posed for the photo together at The Study Preparatory School in Wimbledon, south-west London, when they were hit.Ms Chohan, who needed several operations, was celebrating the end of the school year with Nuria when the crash happened on 6 July.Parents and pupils were in the schoolyard enjoying a tea party.  Another eight-year-old girl, Selena Lau, was also killed.
'What we need is justice'
Six months on, what happened that day remains the subject of a police investigation. A 46-year-old woman from Wimbledon was arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving in July and bailed until January.Those affected by the crash have been left traumatised and bewildered at what they see as a lack of progress.
So far they have not had any answers to their questions. What led to the car losing control? Could anything have been done to prevent it? Who bears responsibility?Nuria’s father, Sajjad Butt, said there had not been much progress: "Ultimately, our status of essentially waiting for what we want and need - justice - it is still very much the status quo."Ms Chohan said she and her husband felt they had to speak to BBC London, as they think it might help them get answers."We shouldn’t have to do this," she said. "This should have been the priority from day one. For us to talk to you to help raise our voice is a question again - why? We all know what happened."
Nuria’s family gave BBC London the last photo taken of Nuria as they do not want their case to be forgotten. "It has been six months and I try to understand the process but that never weighs against our grief and our loss," Ms Chohan said."Our daughter was killed six months ago. We need a little bit more than these tiny steps that happen. We were just an ordinary family; we didn’t know that we need to ask for answers. The fact that we have to ask is a question in itself."Mr Butt said: “We have just had an extraordinarily difficult Christmas without Nuria. It was her favourite time of year. She adored it."She loved this period, and the emptiness we felt on Christmas Day - I have never felt that empty."We try and fill our days with moments of distraction and joke and laugh just to feel something, but overwhelmingly the feeling we have every day is hollowness."
On Saturday, a private ceremony of remembrance for the bereaved families will be held in Wimbledon so the community can come together and grieve. It will also be a celebration of the two girls.Trevor Sterling is a senior partner at Moore Barlow, the law firm representing the families. "Six months is too long," he said. "We have got to make sure the families are front and centre of this. This has been the most horrendous time for them. They're entitled to have a clear picture as to what happened to their children."
'Working tirelessly'
Det Ch Supt Clair Kelland, in charge of policing for south-west London, said: "Our thoughts remain with the families of Nuria and Selena, who we know are greatly loved and missed."This was a tragic incident and we understand that the families want and need answers as to what happened. We are continuing to give them specialist support through our dedicated family liaison officers who are providing updates on the investigation where they can."Specialist detectives are working tirelessly to establish the circumstances of that day, including analysing CCTV and examining the expert report from forensic collision investigators."The incident involved the large-scale deployment of joint resources from the Met, LAS (London Ambulance Service) and LFB (London Fire Brigade) and we are working closely with them, as well as the Crown Prosecution Service, as part of our investigation."We recognise that the time taken can cause further distress but it is only right and fair to all involved that we carry out a thorough and extensive investigation."