A 4×4 being driven by a mother-of-two appeared to speed up before hitting a group of children outside a primary school, a court has heard.

Dolly Rincon-Aguilar, 39, from Wandsworth, is accused of mounting the pavement in her Toyota Rav4 and colliding with a group of eight pupils and parents.

The incident happened just after 3pm on September 8, 2020, outside Beatrix Potter Primary School, in Openview, Earlsfield.

She has pleaded not guilty to eight counts of causing serious injury by dangerous driving, after some of the children ended up under the vehicle following the collision.

Kingston Crown Court heard on Monday that as pupils were leaving the school, the “loud noise” of a “revving” engine could be heard by those nearby.

The green vehicle, driven by Rincon-Aguilar on the nearby 20mph road, mounted the pavement and hit a tree, before continuing on to hit a wall, the jury was told.

Nathan Rasiah QC, prosecuting, said: “To their horror, the car continued and accelerated to the school entrance where a group of parents and children were stood.

“It appeared that the car continued to speed up straight towards them before coming to a stop outside the school gate.”

He described how some of the children ended up underneath the vehicle, while others were lying around it “having been struck”.

The court heard that Rincon-Aguilar was “probably in a state of shock”, with the parents and pupils suffering “serious injuries”.

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

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

Mr Rasiah said: “This was a seriously bad piece of driving which fell far below what is expected of a competent and careful driver.”

He went on: “It’s not suggested this was intentional and the defendant plainly didn’t set about the day trying to cause harm.”

The jury was told the evidence they will hear from witnesses is “upsetting, distressing and will invoke an emotional response”.

CCTV footage shows the incident lasted just eight seconds before the car came to a stop, they heard.

Paramedics and London’s Air Ambulance were called to the scene just after 3.10pm.

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

When the incident occurred, Rincon-Aguilar, who has two children, had held a driving licence from November 2019 and was insured to drive the vehicle.

The trial continues.