Europe · Public record

Police send Grenfell fire files on 54 people and 20 organisations to prosecutors

The Metropolitan Police said on Wednesday 30 September 2026 that it had sent all of its investigation files on the Grenfell Tower fire to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS). The 20 files relate to 54 people and 20 companies and organisations, whom investigators have identified as suspects, the force said in a statement.

The files ask prosecutors to consider charges including corporate manslaughter, gross negligence manslaughter, health and safety offences, fraud and fraud-related offences, and misconduct in public office. No one has been charged. The CPS has committed to making its charging decisions before the 10th anniversary of the fire in June 2027, the Met said.

The fire at the tower block on 14 June 2017 killed 72 people, 18 of them children, ABC News reported. A public inquiry found in 2024 that the fire was avoidable, the BBC reported. The BBC, the Guardian, Reuters and ABC News reported the referral the same day.

Why it matters

More than nine years after the fire, no one has faced criminal charges over the deaths. "We appreciate, of course, it has taken nine years to get to this point," Deputy Assistant Commissioner Kevin Southworth said in the Met's statement, calling it "a milestone moment" and "one of the most complex investigations ever undertaken by any UK law enforcement agency".

The decision now passes to prosecutors. The CPS will decide whether there is a realistic prospect of conviction and whether charges are in the public interest, the BBC reported. "Charging decisions will be made independently by CPS prosecutors following a thorough and careful review of all the evidence gathered by the Metropolitan Police Service," Frank Ferguson, head of the CPS special crime and counter terrorism division, said, according to the BBC.

"It has taken more than nine years to get here. Nine years, and no one has been held criminally accountable for the deaths of our 72 loved ones," Grenfell United, a group of bereaved families and survivors, said, according to the BBC.

What is reported

• Metropolitan Police (statement, 30 September):
  • Investigators examined the role of more than 15,000 individuals and 700 organisations before identifying the 54 people and 20 organisations as suspects.
  • Alongside the 20 files, the submission includes 14 overarching evidence files. The Met's summary reports run to more than four million words over 12,600 pages and refer to more than 45,000 documents, images and exhibits.
  • A team of 220 investigators took 14,700 statements and gathered 165 million electronic files. More than 27,000 exhibits, from parts of the building down to screws, nuts and bolts, are kept in a secure warehouse.
  • The tower was held as a crime scene for 14 months.
• BBC (30 September):
  • Work to dismantle the tower began in September 2025.
  • The Met is building a £2m replica of a section of the tower to help future jurors understand its layout.
• The Guardian (30 September):
  • A leading prosecutor has been appointed to head any possible court cases, the paper has learned.
• Reuters (30 September):
  • The fire was Britain's deadliest since the Second World War.
• ABC News (30 September):
  • "I would prefer they get things right rather than rushing a few things," said Marcio Gomes, who survived the fire.
  • Any trials would be among the most complex in British history and could take years to begin.

What we don't know

• Who the suspects are. The Met has not named any of the 54 people or 20 organisations.
• Whether anyone will face charges, and for what. The offences listed are those the police have asked prosecutors to consider. The CPS may charge some suspects, all of them or none.
• When any trial would start. Charging decisions are due before June 2027. No trial dates exist.

Inference (not a finding)

The scale of the files, with millions of words of summary alone, means prosecutors face a large review in under nine months. Even if charges follow before the anniversary, any trials could take years to get underway, ABC News reported.

What happens next

• The CPS review: charging decisions before the 10th anniversary of the fire in June 2027, the Met said.
• Support for families: the Met said it is working with criminal justice partners so that bereaved families and survivors are supported through the next stages, "while in no way pre-empting the CPS's decisions".