Grenfell Tower Fire: Prosecutors to Review Charges Against 54 Individuals and 20 Companies
Met Police submits extensive files to Crown Prosecution Service for potential charges including corporate manslaughter and fraud.
Up to 54 individuals and 20 companies may face criminal charges in connection with the Grenfell Tower fire, following the Metropolitan Police's submission of evidence files to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS). Scotland Yard announced it has handed over a substantial tranche of evidence, comprising over 12,600 pages and 45,000 documents, images, and exhibits.
Investigators are requesting that prosecutors consider charges such as corporate manslaughter, gross negligence manslaughter, health and safety offenses, fraud, fraud-related offenses, and misconduct in public office. Decisions on charges are anticipated before the 10th anniversary of the fire next summer.
Deputy Assistant Commissioner Kevin Southworth described the submission as a "milestone moment" in the police investigation, acknowledging the nine-year duration of the inquiry. He characterized the investigation as one of the most complex ever undertaken by a UK law enforcement agency due to its enormous scale. The Met Police has examined the roles of approximately 15,000 individuals and 700 organizations during this extensive inquiry.
Investigators gathered 165 million electronic files and took 14,700 statements. The Grenfell Tower fire in June 2017 resulted in the deaths of 72 people and was determined by a public inquiry to have been preventable.
More than 27,000 exhibits, including building materials like cladding, insulation, doors, and windows, are being stored securely. The Grenfell Inquiry concluded that the disaster stemmed from "decades of failure" by governments and the building industry to address the risks associated with flammable materials in high-rise buildings. The inquiry also found that victims, the bereaved, and survivors were "badly failed" due to "incompetence, dishonesty and greed."
According to the inquiry chairman, Sir Martin Moore-Bick, the tower was covered in combustible materials due to the "systematic dishonesty" of companies involved in the manufacture and sale of the cladding and insulation. He also criticized the "deliberate and sustained" manipulation of fire safety testing, misrepresentation of test data, and misleading of the market.