Dozens could face criminal charges over London’s 2017 Grenfell Tower inferno
Police seek prosecutions nearly a decade after Britain’s worst modern residential blaze killed 72
British police said on Tuesday they would ask prosecutors to consider charging 57 people and 20 organisations with criminal offences over the Grenfell Tower blaze, almost a decade after the deadliest fire in Britain’s modern history killed dozens.
The Metropolitan Police said files of evidence would be submitted to prosecutors by the end of September, with charging decisions by June 14, 2027 – the 10th anniversary of the London tragedy, which killed 72 people.
Bereaved families and survivors said justice delayed any further would be unacceptable. A damning public inquiry has found that the deaths were avoidable, and that a combination of dishonest companies, incompetent regulators and failures by government led the building to be covered in combustible external cladding.
“We have waited almost a decade for accountability,” said Grenfell United, a group representing some bereaved families. “No family should have to wait over 10 years for justice for their loved ones, if it comes at all.”
Police said the offences being considered include corporate gross negligence manslaughter, fraud and health and safety breaches.
It said officers had gathered 165 million electronic files and looked at the role of 15,000 individuals and 700 organisations relevant to the investigation, making it the largest and most complex inquiry the force has ever carried out.