The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said it hopes to be in a position to make prosecution decisions on the Grenfell Tower fire by the end of 2026.
A total of 19 companies and 58 individuals are being investigated as suspects as part of the criminal investigation into the Grenfell tragedy.
The Metropolitan Police has issued an update on what it calls “one of the largest and most complete investigations ever undertaken by the Met”, which will continue at least until the end of 2025.
Next month will be the seventh anniversary of the fire that killed 72 people. After some delays, publication of the final report of the public inquiry is expected later this year.
The criminal investigation is independent from the inquiry, but the police must fully consider the report’s findings in the context of the ongoing and complex criminal investigation.
Actions taken
Since the investigation began, fire detectives have carried out the following actions:
- Identified and currently investigating 19 companies or organisations and 58 individuals, as suspects.
- Entered an “early investigative advice” phase and submitted eight of 20 advice files to the Crown Prosecution Service.
- Interviewed under caution over 50 suspects for a total of more than 300 hours.
- Spent more than a year forensically examining Grenfell Tower, and painstakingly removing its exterior piece by piece.
- Collated more than 27,000 exhibits, which are stored in a 635 sq m warehouse. The exhibits include cladding, insulation, doors, windows and other parts of the building, down to screws, nuts and bolts.
- Followed up more than 27,000 separate lines of inquiry.
- Taken more than 12,000 witness statements.
- Retrieved more than 152 million documents and files.
- Evaluated 1,600 witness statements provided to the Grenfell Tower Public Inquiry, 300 days of evidence and more than 320,000 documents disclosed by the inquiry.
Corporate manslaughter and other offences
The Met Police said it will take the investigation team at least 12-18 months to fully assess the inquiry’s report and complete evidential files to present to the CPS for charging decisions.
The Met and the CPS have been working closely since the beginning of the investigation and detectives are in the process of submitting ‘early investigative advice’ files to them. These files will allow the CPS to consider the evidence and important legal aspects of the investigation, as well as provide the Met with advice on any further lines of inquiry.
So far, eight of 20 early investigative advice files have been submitted to the CPS with 12 other files in advanced stages of preparation. Each file examines a full range of offences, including corporate manslaughter, gross negligence manslaughter, fraud and health and safety breaches.
The covering report alone for just one of these advice files is 535 pages and references more than 1,200 supporting evidential documents.
A large and complex investigation
Deputy assistant commissioner Stuart Cundy said: "Those who are most deeply affected have our commitment that we are doing all we can to get this investigation right. We owe that to those who died and all those affected by the tragedy. We are moving as quickly as we can, but we must be thorough and diligent in our investigation.
“This is one of the largest and most complex investigations ever undertaken by the Met, the scale and legal complexity is immense. We have been working since the night of the fire to leave no stone unturned in our investigation into what happened.
“Based on where we are today, we believe it will take us at least until the end of 2025 to fully assess the public inquiry’s phase 2 report and finalise evidential files to present to the CPS for charging decisions. We have updated the bereaved and survivors with our expected timescales and we know how long this sounds, on top of the very long time they have already waited.
Exploring further evidence
“To provide some context, the inquiry’s phase 1 report was more than 800 pages long. We expect the phase 2 report will be substantially longer and much more complex. We must fully assess the findings of the report – line by line – against the evidence we have gathered in our investigation.
“It’s very possible we will then need to explore further evidence and witnesses, and interview some or all of the criminal suspects again.”
Rosemary Ainslie, head of the CPS special crime division, said: “The police anticipate sending complete files of evidence to us by 2026.
“However, as you will appreciate, due to the sheer volume of substantial evidence, there is still a lot of work to be done in reaching any charging decisions.
“It is our hope that by the end of 2026, we will be in a position where we are making decisions."
