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Grenfell Tower: police investigating corporate manslaughter offences Grenfell labelled a 'national atrocity' as lawyers begin giving evidence
(about 9 hours later)
Criminal offences of manslaughter, corporate manslaughter, misconduct in public office and breaches of fire safety legislation are being considered by the police investigation into the Grenfell Tower fire. The Grenfell Tower fire was a “national atrocity” and warnings given in advance were ignored, a lawyer representing many of the bereaved has told the tragedy’s public inquiry.
Updating the public inquiry on the progress of the parallel police inquiry, Jeremy Johnson QC, for the Metropolitan police, told a hearing in London that 31m documents had been obtained. Almost six months after the inferno reduced the high rise flats to a charred skeleton, lawyers representing survivors and relatives of the victims have for the first time begun giving evidence.
A total of 187 officers and civilian staff were working on the police investigation, the scale of which was unprecedented outside of a counter-terrorist operation. Their chorus of demands that former residents and relatives be placed at the heart of the legal process was met by an official assurance that giving evidence may help them “find some measure of closure”.
Nearly 4,000 separate lines of inquiry had been generated by the witness statements and documents examined so far, Johnson said. Speaking on behalf of many bereaved families, Michael Mansfield QC said: “People had given warnings about this before. In a community that has been ignored, what has happened since then has not restored their confidence. There’s a distinct feeling that they have not been involved.”
The inquiry opened on Monday for hearings into the fire in London in June that killed 71 people. The two-day session will focus on case management issues, such as time frames, witnesses and the disclosure of evidence. Describing the fire as “a national atrocity”, Mansfield said: “How on earth, in the 21st century, in one of the richest boroughs of the United Kingdom, can a block like this just go up in flames with so many casualties involved?”
In the first public submission from lawyers representing survivors and the bereaved, Danny Friedman QC said the inquiry must strive to gain their confidence. Public confidence needed to be restored, he said, and the immediate cause of the fire was not necessarily the most pressing issue. What the families want, he added, is accountability and clear identification of what went wrong.
“Survivors and the bereaved must be placed at the centre or heart of this process,” said Friedman, who represents more than 60 bereaved family members. “That does not mean that you [the inquiry’s chair, Sir Martin Moore-Bick] should be biased in their favour. The two-day procedural hearing at Holborn Bars, in the centre of London’s legal industry, was also given an update on the parallel police investigation into the fire on 14 June that engulfed the 24-storey building and claimed 71 lives, including that of a stillborn baby.
“I have repeatedly been told that what my clients need is a restoration of their human dignity … You can’t learn at school how to conduct the Grenfell Tower inquiry. There’s no substitute for being eternally curious about the fire, and most of all from the people who lived through it. This cannot be a mere conversation between lawyers.” The police’s expected and confirmed death tolls were always a lot lower than much of the speculation. The shadow home secretary and others, such as the singer Lily Allen, had insisted at various times that the number must be well into the hundreds.
More than 230,000 documents had been obtained by the public inquiry from manufacturers, building contractors, suppliers and others, the hearing was told. There was even a quickly disproven conspiracy theory that media outlets had been told by the government to hide the disaster's true extent.
The Metropolitan police put out two figures: the number they knew to have died at any given time; and the number they believed they would eventually find.
The first number was always low, because officers required a high standard of evidence before they would announce that a body had been identified. For the second, police had to calculate how many people were unaccounted for.
They received thousands of calls, with many duplicate reports. One person, for example, was reported missing 46 times and, on the day of the fire, the list of missing people had 400 names on it. Each had to be checked before an accurate list could be compiled – a process that took months.
The matter was complicated by incomplete records of who, exactly, was in the tower on 14 June. Some of the dead may have been visiting family and not appeared on any records. Some residents may have survived, but not been traceable.
Police have now said everyone who was reported missing and was unaccounted for has been listed as having died and they do not expect to find any other bodies in Grenfell Tower.
Jeremy Johnson QC, for the Metropolitan police, revealed that 31m documents have been acquired. Criminal offences of manslaughter, corporate manslaughter, misconduct in public office and breaches of fire safety legislation are being considered.
A total of 187 officers and civilian staff are following nearly 4,000 separate lines of inquiry generated by witness statements taken and documents examined so far. The scale of the investigation, he said, was unprecedented. A forensic examination will not be completed until autumn 2018 after which interviews of further witnesses and suspects will take place.
The two-day session is focusing on case management issues, timetabling, sequencing of witnesses and disclosure of evidence.
Danny Friedman QC, who represents more than 60 relatives, said the inquiry must strive to gain their confidence. “Survivors and the bereaved must be placed at the centre or heart of this process,” he urged. “That does not mean that you [the inquiry’s chair, Sir Martin Moore-Bick] should be biased in their favour.
“I have repeatedly been told that what my clients need is a restoration of their human dignity … You can’t learn at school how to conduct the Grenfell Tower inquiry. There’s no substitute for being eternally curious about the fire, and most of all about the people who lived through it. This cannot be a mere conversation between lawyers.”
The inquiry itself has so far obtained more than 230,000 documents from manufacturers, building contractors, suppliers and others but has not yet been given access to police documents.
Outlining progress in evidence-gathering, Richard Millett QC, counsel to the inquiry, said the process of disclosure would begin as soon as possible.Outlining progress in evidence-gathering, Richard Millett QC, counsel to the inquiry, said the process of disclosure would begin as soon as possible.
Michael Mansfield QC, speaking on behalf of another group of law firms that represent other bereaved families, said the fire in the country’s wealthiest borough was a “national atrocity”. Hearing the voices of Grenfell Tower survivors and bereaved families could help save lives in the future, he suggested, ensuring that “something like this never happens again”.
“People had given warnings about this before,” Mansfield said. “In a community that has been ignored, what has happened since then has not restored their confidence. There’s a distinct feeling that they have not been involved.” He added: “Giving that evidence is also one aspect of the way that each of them individually can be heard and perhaps find some measure of closure.”
Public confidence needs to be restored, he said. Mansfield said the immediate cause of the fire was not necessarily the most pressing issue. What the families want is accountability and identification of what went wrong, he added. Moore-Bick, the retired judge leading the inquiry, asked whether assembling a consultative group of local residents to liaise with him would be helpful.
Sir Martin Moore-Bick, the retired judge leading the inquiry, asked whether assembling a panel of local residents to liaise with him would be helpful. Peter Weatherby QC, who represents 73 individuals from the tower and surrounding estate in North Kensington, said that prompt and full disclosure of evidence and documents would be a means of “allaying suspicion”.
Peter Weatherby QC, who represents 73 individuals from the tower and surrounding estate, said that prompt and full disclosure of evidence and documents would be a means of “allaying suspicion”. He supported the creation of a local advisory group to liaise with the inquiry but stressed it should not be a substitute for a formal advisory panel whose diversity reflects that of the local community.
He supported the creation of a local consultative group to liaise with the inquiry but stressed that it should not be a substitute a proper advisory panel whose diversity reflects the diversity of the North Kensington community. Sam Stein QC, who spoke on behalf of 65 residents represented by the law firm Howe and Co, said relatives and survivors had “lost loved ones, been injured, poisoned by cyanide and had been taken to hell itself”.
Requests for disclosure of documents should also be released, Weatherby added. “Many if those I represent are disappointed about the lack of progress in the inquiry particular in relation to disclosure [of evidence and documents].” He asked: “When will the [inquiry] start? When will the truth come out? ... Many of the core participants lost all of their belongings and are still living in temporary accommodation ... Many are living in single hotel rooms and may well continue to do so over the Christmas period.”
There have been repeated calls for the inquiry’s formal panel of experts to reflect the diversity of the local community.
Leslie Thomas QC, appearing on behalf of 17 core participants, questioned the appearance of the legal teams and inquiry staff themselves. He asked if the inquiry passed the “smell test” relating to public perception and whether the inquiry top team understood the day-to-day experiences of residents from diverse backgrounds.
“Do they speak our language?” he asked. “How many of them have lived in a tower block or a council estate or in social housing? That affects confidence. Confidence, or a lack of it, affects participation. And a lack of participation of the very people that matter affects justice. And a lack of justice is injustice.”
Commenting after the first morning’s hearing, Natasha Elcock, who escaped from her 11th-floor flat with her boyfriend and six-year-old daughter, said: “The inquiry is new to us all. It is the first day of a long journey to truth and justice.
“It was encouraging to hear from the inquiry’s barristers that they want to build confidence with us. Before the fire, during the fire and after the fire our voices were not heard. We need our voices to be heard now – the bereaved, the survivors and the community. It is our inquiry. We need to play a huge role in this.”
The said there was “a lot of legal jargon” but “we caught the drift of what was going on.” She was not unduly worried about the length of time it was taking for the inquiry to begin. “Some deadlines have been pushed back; I would rather it takes time providing that it achieves the outcome we desire.”
Sir Martin Moore-Bicks’ deadline of producing an interim report by Easter appears to have slipped. A further procedural session is expected in January before the inquiry begins taking evidence later next year.
The hearing continues on Tuesday.