SCOTLAND Yard yesterday passed files on 54 people and 20 companies and organisations to the Crown Prosecution Service over the Grenfell Tower fire, which killed 72 people in North Kensington in June 2017.
The 20 files ask prosecutors to consider charges of corporate manslaughter, gross negligence manslaughter, health and safety offences, fraud and fraud-related offences and misconduct in public office.
The CPS has committed to reaching charging decisions before the 10th anniversary of the fire on 14 June 2027, but trials are not expected to begin before 2029, 12 years after the blaze.
Deputy Assistant Commissioner Kevin Southworth called the move ‘a milestone moment in the police investigation into this devastating tragedy’.
‘We appreciate, of course, it has taken nine years to get to this point,’ he said.
He described it as ‘one of the most complex investigations ever undertaken by any UK law enforcement agency’ and said it had ‘necessarily taken this long to ensure our investigation is meticulous’.
Joe Delaney, of the Justice4Grenfell campaign, said: ‘Once again we have had a re-announcement of an announcement that we should have had nine years ago.
‘Justice delayed is justice denied.’
Grenfell United, which represents bereaved families and survivors, said: ‘We want those responsible to face justice.
‘If people are found guilty of crimes that cost our loved ones their lives, we want to see them behind bars.’
It added: ‘No family should have to fight this hard, for this long, for justice.’
Kensington and Bayswater MP Joe Powell said: ‘Bereaved, families and survivors have waited far too long for justice, and we must see criminal accountability.’
Frank Ferguson, head of the CPS Special Crime and Counter Terrorism Division, said decisions would be made ‘independently by CPS prosecutors following a thorough and careful review of all the evidence’.
The Met’s 220 investigators examined the role of more than 15,000 people and 700 organisations and took 14,700 statements.
More than 27,000 exhibits, down to screws, nuts and bolts, are held in a secure warehouse.
Scale replicas of parts of the tower are being built at a cost of £2 million for possible trials, and a special court is being considered to hear the cases.
The public inquiry found the fire was preceded by ‘decades of failure’ by governments and the building industry to act on the dangers of flammable materials on high-rise buildings.
Its chairman, Sir Martin Moore-Bick, said in his final report in 2024 that the tower was covered in combustible products because of the ‘systematic dishonesty’ of firms that made and sold the cladding and insulation.
He condemned the ‘deliberate and sustained’ manipulation of fire safety testing.
