Corporate Manslaughter charges being considered for Grenfell fire

The fire took place at the 24-storey residential tower block on 14 June and killed at least 80 people. So far only 40 of the fatalities have been formally named. 

The Metropolitan Police sent a letter to survivors of the blaze and explained that the charge was being looked into following the incident. This means that senior council officials are likely to now be interviewed under caution.

The letter stated: “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 due course, a senior representative of each corporation will be formally interviewed by police in relation to the potential offence.”

In response to the letter, newly appointed leader of Kensington and Chelsea Council councillor Elizabeth Campbell said: “Our residents deserve answers about the Grenfell Tower fire and the police investigation will provide these. We fully support the Metropolitan Police investigation and we will cooperate in every way we can. It would not be appropriate to comment further on matters subject to the police investigation.”

The Justice 4 Grenfell campaign group has welcomed the news, it released a statement saying: “J4G welcomes the Police statement that they have enough evidence to proceed with corporate manslaughter charges, not least because this is evidence of progress being made in the criminal investigation. 

“Trust in the authorities across the entire community has been seriously undermined by events since the fire, to say nothing of everything that happened in the years before the disaster. This announcement will go someway towards the rebuilding of trust; it is to be welcomed for that reason too.”