No justice for the Grenfell tragedy 'until next decade'

Justice for the 72 deaths in the Grenfell Tower fire may not come before the end of this decade, a former chief prosecutor has warned as survivors voiced growing fury over firms' "arrogant" refusal to admit wrongdoing.

- Robert Booth, Haroon Siddique, Vikram Dodd

The public inquiry findings of "systematic dishonesty" by multimillion-dollar companies involved in the tower's disastrous refurbishment prompted a clamour for accelerated criminal charges this week, seven years on from the blaze.

Offences being considered include corporate manslaughter, gross negligence manslaughter, fraud, and health and safety offences, police have said.

Yesterday the former director of public prosecutions (DPP) Ken Macdonald warned that delays in the creaking justice system meant any criminal trials may not begin before 2029, so verdicts could be pushed beyond this decade. "Unless processes are massively expedited, justice is a very long way away."

Bereaved relatives and survivors have called for charges to be expedited fearing "perpetrators literally getting away with murder". Anthony Roncolato, the last person to escape the 2017 fire alive, warned of continuing "pain and distress" as the fear of fresh delays emerged.

"[Think of] the fathers and the mothers without their children, without their loved ones, and in many cases, not only one person [lost] per family, but two, three, four, five, six," he said. "It's just crazy. There has to be justice. They have to deliver."

Lord Macdonald's warning that it could take a dozen years after the disaster before anyone is punished is based on the Metropolitan police assertion that the force needs 12 to 18 months to go through the public inquiry findings before recommending charges.

On Wednesday the Met deputy assistant commissioner, Stuart Cundy, justified the wait, saying: "We have one chance to get our investigation right."

The stark findings of the inquiry which concluded that firms employed "deliberate and sustained strategies to... mislead the market", has fuelled pressure to speed up charges.