Up to 54 people and 20 companies could be charged over the Grenfell Tower fire after the Met Police submitted files to prosecutors.
Scotland Yard announced today it handed over a tranche of evidence to the Crown Prosecution Service.
The 20 files include 14 overarching evidence files, and more than 12,600 pages and 45,000 documents, images and exhibits.
Investigators are asking prosecutors to consider charges including corporate manslaughter, gross negligence manslaughter, health and safety offences, fraud and fraud-related offences and misconduct in public office.
Decisions are expected before the 10th anniversary of the blaze next summer.
Deputy Assistant Commissioner Kevin Southworth called it ‘a milestone moment in the police investigation into this devastating tragedy’.
‘Our dedicated team of 220 investigators has worked incredibly hard to honour our commitment to the bereaved, survivors, residents and all those affected by the fire to meet this timescale.
‘We appreciate, of course, it has taken nine years to get to this point. As we have said before, this is one of the most complex investigations ever undertaken by any UK law enforcement agency – the scale is truly enormous.
‘While we know this has had a significant impact on those waiting for answers, it has necessarily taken this long to ensure our investigation is meticulous and presents the very best possible evidence to the CPS for charging decisions.’
The Metropolitan Police could charge 20 companies and 54 people with criminal offences over the Grenfell Tower fire
People light candles in memory of the victims of the Grenfell Tower fire during a memorial service on the ninth anniversary of the disaster in June this year
The Met has looked at the role of 15,000 individuals and 700 organisations, signalling the largest and most complex inquiry the force has ever carried out.
Police said 165 million electronic files had been gathered and searched for evidence while 14,700 statements have been taken.
The fire in June 2017 claimed the lives of 72 people and was found by a public inquiry to have been avoidable.
More than 27,000 exhibits, including cladding, insulation, doors, windows and other parts of the building, down to screws, nuts and bolts, remain stored in a secure warehouse.
The Grenfell Inquiry found the disaster was preceded by ‘decades of failure’ by governments and the building industry to act on the dangers of flammable materials on high-rise buildings.
It also found victims, the bereaved and survivors were ‘badly failed’ through ‘incompetence, dishonesty and greed’.
The tower block was covered in combustible products because of the ‘systematic dishonesty’ of firms which made and sold the cladding and insulation, inquiry chairman Sir Martin Moore-Bick said in his final report in 2024.
He also condemned the ‘deliberate and sustained’ manipulation of fire safety testing, misrepresentation of test data and misleading of the market.
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