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London: Met Police Sends Grenfell Files on 54 People, 20 Organisations to CPS
The Metropolitan Police on Sept 30 handed its full Grenfell Tower fire investigation to the Crown Prosecution Service for charging decisions covering 54 individuals and 20 companies or organisations.
Why it matters
The Grenfell Tower fire of June 2017, which killed 72 people, was Britain's deadliest residential fire since World War II. After nine years, the criminal investigation has now reached the charging-decision stage — whether and when prosecutions follow will determine whether this disaster is ever answered for in court.
Full report
The Metropolitan Police announced on Sept 30 that it had sent 20 main case files and 14 evidence-overview files to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS). The files concern 54 individuals and 20 companies or organisations; investigators had previously reviewed more than 15,000 people and 700 organisations.
Offences under consideration include corporate manslaughter, gross negligence manslaughter, health and safety offences, fraud and misconduct in public office. The investigation was unprecedented in scale: 220 investigators, 165 million electronic documents collected, 14,700 witness statements taken and more than 27,000 exhibits preserved; the case summary runs to over 4 million words across 12,600 pages.
The CPS has committed to a charging decision by June 2027, the tenth anniversary of the fire; no charges have been brought so far. Deputy Assistant Commissioner Kevin Southworth called it a "milestone moment"; Housing Secretary Angela Rayner called it "an important step" and stressed that "Operation Northleigh is independent of government".
The 2024 public inquiry concluded the disaster was the result of decades of failure by government, regulators and the companies involved.
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