UK police ask prosecutors to consider manslaughter charges over Grenfell fire
An official works in the burnt out remains of the Grenfell Tower residential building in London, Britain, on Sept 20, 2017.
LONDON – British police said on Sept 30 they had asked prosecutors to consider charges including corporate manslaughter and gross negligence manslaughter against dozens of people over the 2017 Grenfell Tower fire which killed 72 people.
The Metropolitan Police said they had submitted their full case files to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) for charging decisions, which the CPS had committed to making before the 10th anniversary of the disaster in June 2027.
The force said it had also asked the CPS to consider health and safety offences, fraud and fraud-related offences and misconduct in public office as part of its investigation into Britain's deadliest fire since World War II.
Case files relating to 54 people and 20 companies and organisations have been sent, after investigators examined the role of more than 15,000 people and 700 organisations.
Police said they had gathered 165 million electronic files, taken 14,700 statements and collected more than 27,000 exhibits during what they described as one of the most complex criminal investigations ever undertaken in Britain.
A 2024 public inquiry concluded the disaster was the result of decades of failures by government, regulators and companies involved in Grenfell Tower's refurbishment. REUTERS
