Approaching the ninth anniversary of the deaths of 72 people in the Grenfell Tower inferno, the Metropolitan Police held a press conference this week to announce that 57 individuals and 20 companies could face criminal charges.
New Scotland Yard’s May 19 update, coinciding with the Met’s press conference, declared its investigation into the fire “is on track by the end of September to submit all files for charging decisions to the Crown Prosecution Service”.
Police said that charges under consideration include corporate manslaughter, gross negligence manslaughter, misconduct in public office, fraud, and health and safety matters.
On the Met’s announced timeline, charging decisions might therefore be reached before the ten-year anniversary on June 14, 2027, with criminal trials, if they happen at all, unlikely to begin before 2029. By the time any verdicts are delivered, Grenfell will be a crime approaching two decades old.
The Grenfell inferno was a crime of capitalism and social murder. The Met’s latest statement is part of an orchestrated state cover-up that has continued under four Conservative and Labour governments, led by four different prime ministers.
At Tuesday’s press conference, the Metropolitan Police spoke of the “immense” scale of their nine-year investigation. Its “update” boasted of having investigated:
- 15,000 individuals and 700 organisations… of which 57 people and 20 organisations are suspects for criminal offences.
- 165 million electronic files to meticulously search for evidence.
- A total of 14,400 statements have been taken.
- More than 27,000 exhibits, including cladding, insulation, doors, windows and other parts of the building, down to screws, nuts and bolts, are stored in a warehouse.
- So far, 15 of 20 files have been submitted to the CPS and 10 of 14 overarching evidence files are complete.
- The word counts of the Met’s summary reports to the CPS exceeds 2.2 million.
The Met’s recycled lists seek to justify nine years of inaction. It has refused to charge those responsible for heinous crimes that sacrificed the lives of Grenfell residents to corporate greed and profit.
Hellbound and Down 