Met Police Seek Charges Against 57 People and 20 Firms Over Grenfell Fire That Killed 72
Updated
Updated · BBC.com · May 19
Met Police Seek Charges Against 57 People and 20 Firms Over Grenfell Fire That Killed 72
13 articles · Updated · BBC.com · May 19
Evidence files on up to 57 individuals and 20 companies will be sent to the Crown Prosecution Service by the end of September, the Metropolitan Police said in its latest Grenfell update.
The charging request stems from Operation Northleigh, a £150 million investigation into the 2017 tower fire that killed 72 people and has reviewed the actions of 15,000 people across 700 organisations.
Any decision on prosecutions may not come until June 2027—10 years after the disaster—and, if charges are approved, trials are not expected to start before 2029.
The timeline underscores the scale of what police described as the Met's largest and most complex investigation, extending the wait for criminal accountability in one of Britain's deadliest residential fires.
A decade after the fire, will delayed justice for Grenfell victims actually reform a broken industry?
With sweeping new safety laws in place, why are thousands still living in buildings with dangerous cladding?
Grenfell Tower: Ten Years On—Accountability, Systemic Failures, and the Ongoing Fight for Building Safety Reform
Overview
Nearly a decade after the Grenfell Tower disaster in June 2017, the criminal investigation is finally approaching prosecutions, reflecting the immense scale and complexity of the case. The Metropolitan Police’s Operation Northleigh has identified dozens of individuals and companies as suspects, with potential charges including corporate and gross negligence manslaughter, fraud, and health and safety breaches. This long and meticulous process highlights the challenges in building a comprehensive case and underscores the community’s ongoing demand for accountability and justice for the victims and survivors.