Pressure builds on police to speed up Grenfell fire probe – and bring manslaughter charges
Your support helps us to tell the storyFind out moreCloseAs your White House correspondent, I ask the tough questions and seek the answers that matter.Your support enables me to be in the room, pressing for transparency and accountability. Without your contributions, we wouldn’t have the resources to challenge those in power.Your donation makes it possible for us to keep doing this important work, keeping you informed every step of the way to the November electionAndrew FeinbergWhite House CorrespondentGrieving relatives of Grenfell fire victims are calling for those responsible to face manslaughter charges as pressure builds on police to speed up their investigation.Families and survivors expressed anguish that prosecutions might not be brought until 2026 despite this week’s damning inquiry report into the disaster which killed 72 residents and left 800 more homeless.The wait could be even longer, warned a former director of public prosecutions on Thursday night. Lord Macdonald said criminal trials may not begin until the 2029 due to the pressure on the criminal justice system.Some families now fear they may not live to see justice for their loved ones over the 2017 blaze.Shah Aghlani, 55, who lost his aunt and disabled mother in the fire, told The Independent that the prospect of further delay to criminal prosecutions “is our worst fear coming true, our nightmare coming true”.And he said the lack of accountability over Grenfell has emboldened developers to drag their feet in fixing thousands of buildings still endangered by flammable cladding seven years on, labelling a fire that ravaged a block of flats in London last week as “Grenfell Two”.“There are harsher laws for drinking and driving than killing people by corporate manslaughter,” said Mr Aghlani. “There are people who falsified test results, people whose job was to make sure the safety and security of the building was not compromised. People who were responsible for their tenants.Seventy-two people were killed in the Grenfell fire More