Fatal School Land Rover Crash, Wimbledon

[mushroom25]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cw4448xx4keo

// A woman who killed two eight-year-old girls when her car crashed into a school in south-west London will not face criminal charges, the Crown Prosecution (CPS) has said.

Nuria Sajjad and Selena Lau died after a Land Rover crashed into an end-of-term tea party at The Study Preparatory School in Wimbledon on 6 July 2023.

The families have been informed by the CPS the woman who was driving will not be charged as she had suffered an epileptic seizure. //

........right decision?

 

[sandyRoe]

I wonder if that was the first seizure she'd suffered?

If it wasn't she shouldn't have been drinking and should have been charged.

[douglas9401]

Maybe, if she was either undiagnosed or on the correct medication for her condition.

The licencing authorities take that stuff very seriously 

[wolf63]

I have just read an article about the crash.  She had not previously had a fit and showed no sign of ill health.

 

[Barmaid]

sandyRoe, had she been drinking?  From all the reports I have read she suffered a seizure, and had not suffered one before.  Do you mean "driving"?

The CPS said "In reaching this decision we have considered the driver’s full medical records, obtained by police, and received evidence from neurological specialists, who agreed that the driver had a seizure and that this was the first such medical episode she had experienced."

This was a tragic event and one which the driver will never forget.  Much as I feel for the families of the children who died, I cannot see anything else can be done.

[jackthehat]

If the CPS have looked at every charge which could have been lain against her and there are not which stand a realistic chance of succeeding in a conviction, then it has to be the correct decision.

Cold-comfort, probably, for the parents but I suspect the driver will never shake off responsibility for her actions, even if she has not been legally deemed to have been responsible for them.

[jourdain2]

It seems that it was the first epileptic seizure she had ever suffered.  She could not have anticipated it any more than any one of us. No evidence that she had been drinking or any other possible handicap to driving.  A simple, horrible tragedy.  She will never forgive herself.

It was the correct decision.  

[sandyRoe]

I did mean"driving".  Either my subconscious put "drinking" there or my phone has a mind of its own.

[barry1010]

Tragic accident, unavoidable.  Very sad for all involved.

Right decision 

[dave50]

Why mention it was a land rover?  What does that matter?

[barry1010]

Would a Micra have ploughed through the fence? I don't know

[237SJ]

They only have her word for it that she had never had a seizure before though but I suppose there was no evidence to the contrary. 

[ladybirder]

Surely it would have been on her medical records if she had had an epileptic seizure?

[jackthehat]

Her medical history was scrutinised and the opinion of neurosurgeons was also sought and given. She underwent tests which all showed that she had never had a seizure before but that she had experienced one at the time of the accident.

[barry1010]

That is why it has taken the CPS so long to come to their decision. Lots of medical tests to determine epilepsy; investigations in to her mental health in case she was suicidal or had other psychiatric problems; her finances. 

They didn't just accept her word for it

[237SJ]

https://epilepsyfoundation.org.au/understanding-epilepsy/diagnosing-epilepsy/testing-and-investigation/

[douglas9401]

The Landrover may be mentioned to balance the hedged-around race card.

Yes, a Micra would have 'ploughed' through the fence.

 

[andy-hughes]

237SJ - // They only have her word for it that she had never had a seizure before though but I suppose there was no evidence to the contrary. //

No, they had her medical records, which they checked, and found no evidence of previous seizures.

Quite why you are so keen to condemn a complete stranger, and assume the worst of her, is  a mystery.

[237SJ]

I`m not condemning anyone.  Just keeping an open mind. Years ago I met a commercial pilot who had a nocturnal epileptic fit.  Nothing on his medical records and he kept quiet about it because he wanted to keep his licence.  Just saying..

[Barmaid]

That is entirely possible, 237SJ, but there was no evidence of a previous seizure.  After Mr BM had his stroke, (and it was relatively minor) he was told that he had had an earlier stroke.  He was completely unaware of this - as was I.

Unless it can be proved she had knowledge of such seizures then the right decision has been made.  I guess the "first" episode of such conditions may happen at any time, but thankfully most do not result in such awful consequences.

[andy-hughes]

237SJ - // I`m not condemning anyone.  Just keeping an open mind. //

Clearly, you're not doing anything of the kind, hence my response.

//Years ago I met a commercial pilot who had a nocturnal epileptic fit.  Nothing on his medical records and he kept quiet about it because he wanted to keep his licence.  Just saying.. //

You have an unconfirmed story from a virtual stranger, who had a vested interest in keeping something secret.

And now you want to shoehorn that into this scenario, where all the evidence clears this woman of any history of epilepsy.

You need to look at what the term 'open mind' actrually means, because clearly your definition is different from the standard.