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You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/jul/27/met-says-grenfell-council-may-have-committed-corporate-manslaughter
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| Met says Grenfell Tower council 'may have committed corporate manslaughter' | Met says Grenfell Tower council 'may have committed corporate manslaughter' |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| The Scotland Yard investigation into the Grenfell Tower disaster has said there are “reasonable grounds” to suspect the council and the organisation that managed the flats of corporate manslaughter. | The Scotland Yard investigation into the Grenfell Tower disaster has said there are “reasonable grounds” to suspect the council and the organisation that managed the flats of corporate manslaughter. |
| In a letter sent to survivors and the families of those who died, police said the assessment follows the seizing of documents and taking of a large number of witness statements. | In a letter sent to survivors and the families of those who died, police said the assessment follows the seizing of documents and taking of a large number of witness statements. |
| In their letter, police said: “After an initial assessment of that information, the officer leading the investigation has today notified Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and the Kensington and Chelsea Tenant Management Organisation that there are reasonable grounds to suspect that each organisation may have committed the offence of corporate manslaughter, under the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007.” | In their letter, police said: “After an initial assessment of that information, the officer leading the investigation has today notified Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and the Kensington and Chelsea Tenant Management Organisation that there are reasonable grounds to suspect that each organisation may have committed the offence of corporate manslaughter, under the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007.” |
| The letter adds: “In due course, a senior representative of each corporation will be formally interviewed by police in relation to the potential offence.” | The letter adds: “In due course, a senior representative of each corporation will be formally interviewed by police in relation to the potential offence.” |
| At least 80 people were killed when the blaze ripped through the 24-storey block of flats in west London on 14 June. | At least 80 people were killed when the blaze ripped through the 24-storey block of flats in west London on 14 June. |
| In a statement to the media Scotland Yard said: “The Met started an investigation into the cause and spread of the fire at Grenfell Tower on 14 June. Since then we have stated that it is a criminal investigation, considering the full range of offences from corporate manslaughter to regulatory breaches. | In a statement to the media Scotland Yard said: “The Met started an investigation into the cause and spread of the fire at Grenfell Tower on 14 June. Since then we have stated that it is a criminal investigation, considering the full range of offences from corporate manslaughter to regulatory breaches. |
| “This is a complex and far-reaching investigation that by its very nature will take a considerable time to complete. | “This is a complex and far-reaching investigation that by its very nature will take a considerable time to complete. |
| “The Met has made a commitment to the families who lost loved ones in the fire and survivors that they will be kept updated, as far as we possibly can, as the investigation continues. As is routine, we will not give a running commentary on this investigation.” | |
| Labour MP David Lammy said police should go further, by considering a charge that carries jail time. | |
| Lammy, who lost a family friend in the disaster, told the Guardian: “I am pleased that justice for Grenfell victims and families is being taken seriously by the Metropolitan police and the CPS. | |
| “But the punishment for corporate manslaughter is a fine. A fine would not represent justice for the Grenfell victims and their families. Gross negligence involuntary manslaughter carries a punishment of prison time and I hope that the police and the CPS are considering involuntary manslaughter caused by gross negligence.” | |
| Joe Delaney of the Grenfell Action Group said his response to the news was “cautious optimism”.“It’s rare to see corporate manslaughter charges brought, let alone a prosecution or conviction. Let’s hope this case proves to be the exception,” he said.“It is vital that local people see justice being done. A prosecution or conviction would go a small way towards rebuilding trust in the authorities.“I hope the people of Kensington and Chelsea TMO will sleep as uneasily tonight as people from the tower and local residents have ever since that terrible event.” | |
| Yvette Williams of Justice4Grenfell welcomed the development: “At least [the council and the TMO] have been warned about what’s coming their way. But we would like to see individuals prosecuted as well. People implement policy and take decisions, so we want to see those people brought to account.” | |
| She said the move would restore some faith in the police investigation “but let’s not have a smokescreen”. | |
| Pointing out that there had never been a successful prosecution for corporate manslaughter, Williams said: “We want to see people sitting in the dock, and we can provide the police with their names.” | |
| The 2007 Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act act says that an organisation is guilty of corporate manslaughter “if the way in which its activities are managed or organised … causes a person’s death and amounts to a gross breach of a relevant duty of care owed by the organisation to the deceased.” Anyone found guilty is liable to a fine, not imprisonment. The breach of the duty of care is “a gross breach if the conduct alleged … falls far below what can be reasonably be expected of the organisation in the circumstances”. | |
| Any prosecution would need the consent of the director of public prosecutions, who is the head of the Crown Prosecution Service. | |
| At least 60 firms have been identified as playing a part in working on Grenfell, and Thursday’s development does not rule out other organisations or individuals being investigated for other offences. | |
| Earlier this month police said the starting point of their criminal investigation into the Grenfell Tower fire was that 80 deaths resulted from manslaughter. The new detail in the latest revelation is that they believe there are reasonable grounds to suspect that two organisations may have committed the offence. | |
| Detectives have been examining firms, individuals and those who refurbished the block and devised its fire safety policies. | |
| Martin Hewitt, the Met police assistant commissioner, said earlier this month: “We believe around 80 people lost their lives as a result of a fire that quite frankly should not have happened.” | |
| “The investigation we are conducting is a criminal investigation that quite obviously is starting from the potential that there was something that effectively amounts to the manslaughter of those people.” | |
| Scotland Yard is investigating any “actions and inactions” that led to the fire’s spread throughout the tower block, which not only killed people but consumed their bodies to such an extent they may never be formally identified. |