The bereaved relatives of Grenfell victims today demanded ‘nothing less’ than manslaughter charges against those responsible for the deadly inferno.
The families of 34 of the 72 victims called with one voice to stop the ‘perpetrators literally getting away with murder’ at a press conference in Central London.
Organised by campaign group Grenfell Next of Kin, families also hit out at the inquiry itself, saying they all ‘knew from the beginning’ who was responsible for the fire so struggled to see what the inquiry had achieved, except delaying possible prosecutions.
The Metropolitan Police will now examine the inquiry’s conclusions and produce an evidential file. This will then be passed onto the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), with no decisions on any prosecutions, which could include corporate or individual manslaughter, expected before late 2026.
It comes after a damning report today found Grenfell was turned into a deathtrap which claimed 72 lives due to ‘serious deficiencies’ in building standards, ‘dishonest’ manufacturers and a local authority with an ‘indifference’ to fire safety.
Almost every organisation involved in the refurbishment and management of the 24-storey, sensa138 situs slot terpercaya 120-apartment block in Kensington, west London , was found to shoulder some responsibility for the ‘decades of failure’ which contributed to the tragedy on June 14, 2017.
‘Unscrupulous’ manufacturers involved in the renovation of the 67-metre-tall tower a year earlier – including covering it in highly combustible cladding – were admonished for ‘systematic dishonesty’ and for ‘misleading customers’.
Architects demonstrated a ‘cavalier attitude’ to fire and safety regulations, while contractors and the cladding specialists did not properly concern themselves with the matter either.
On the day the report was released:
MailOnline looks at how the disaster unfolded, minute by terrifying minute;
A series of missed opportunities to prevent the inferno have been revealed;
Bosses at firms linked to Grenfell have raked in hundreds of millions of pounds;
Haunting images revealed Grenfell Tower still standing in West London today; and
All 72 victims of the blaze were remembered, seven years after their deaths.
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Members of the Grenfell Next of Kin support group hold a press conference at the Royal Lancaster London hotel today
The Grenfell Tower fire in West London in June 2017 left 72 people dead in a shocking tragedy
Families from the Grenfell Next of Kin group hit out at the inquiry at the press conference today following its publication
Members of the support group ‘Grenfell Next of Kin’ speak to each other as they take part in a press conference today
A woman wipes away tears during the Grenfell Next of Kin press conference today at the Royal Lancaster London hotel
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Today, Grenfell Next of Kin member Kimia Zabihyan told journalists that ‘behind the names and the numbers and the reports are real families and real human faces that have been impacted by this in a way that you cannot imagine’.
‘Justice means manslaughter charges, not health and safety [charges], not misconduct in public office [charges]’.
‘For these families these words don’t mean anything’, she added, adding later that she had a letter signed by government ministers which wrongly claimed that the inquiry would not ‘delay the conclusion of the police inquiry’.