Earlsfield school crash: Mum 'lost control' before she ran over pupils

A mother-of-two wept as she told police officers "I lost control" after her car ploughed into a group of primary school children, a court has heard.

Dolly Rincon-Aguilar, 39, mounted the pavement and struck several pupils and parents outside the school in Earlsfield, south-west London, in 2020.

Some children were trapped under her car while a boy, 7, was knocked into the air, Kingston Crown Court was told.

She denies eight counts of causing serious injury by dangerous driving.

The pedestrians were struck by the Toyota Rav4 as they were leaving Beatrix Potter Primary School just after 15:00 BST on 8 September 2020, the jury heard.

Eleven people, including seven pupils, were treated at the scene, with four adults and five children taken to hospital.

Two victims had fractures to the face and skull, with one requiring emergency treatment to remove a blood clot, the court was told.

Some of the children were left with "serious" fractures to the leg, arm and eye socket.

The court heard that in a police interview after the incident, Ms Rincon-Aguilar, who was crying, told of hearing screams and seeing "panic and horror".

In a video shown to the jury, she said: "I pressed the gas to take to the road and suddenly there was a tree in front of us.

"I panicked and pulled the handbrake, the car moved and I just went numb.

"I lost control and I was completely numb, I was so scared, my body froze."

Ms Rincon-Aguilar, of Wandsworth, added: "I can't explain what happened because everything went so fast and I lost control."

She denied pressing the accelerator as the vehicle "shot forward", the jury heard from the footage.

Earlier, the court heard from PC Sean Wakeman, a forensic collision investigator at the Metropolitan Police, who said there had been an "unintended acceleration due to a misapplication of the accelerator pedal".

On Monday, jurors were shown CCTV footage of the eight-second incident.

People who were nearby said they heard the "loud noise" of a "revving" engine as the pupils were leaving the school.

The green vehicle, driven by Ms Rincon-Aguilar on a road with a 20mph limit, mounted the pavement and hit a tree and then a wall, the court was told.

The trial continues.

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