It took seven years to produce the official inquiry report into the 2017 Grenfell Tower ; it will take a few more yet to bring the guilty to account.
The Metropolitan Police and the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) have both said that it will be another 18 months or so before charges are brought. Court hearings could then take a year or more.
Frank Ferguson, head of the CPS special crime and counter terrorism division, said: 鈥淥ur thoughts remain with the bereaved families and the survivors at what must be an extremely difficult time.
鈥淲e have been working closely with the Metropolitan Police Service throughout their investigation and will therefore be in a strong position to review the completed evidential file, which they anticipate will be passed to us in 2026.
鈥淥ur team of specialist prosecutors will then carefully review the file but do not expect to be in a position to make any charging decisions until the end of 2026.
鈥淒ue to the sheer volume of evidence and complexity of the investigation, we will need to take the necessary time to thoroughly evaluate the evidence before providing final charging decisions.鈥�
For the Met, deputy assistant commissioner Stuart Cundy said: 鈥淭he publication of today鈥檚 inquiry report is a significant milestone for those deeply affected by the tragedy. The thoughts of the Met are especially with the bereaved, survivors and residents as well as the wider Grenfell community. We remember with much sadness all those who lost their lives.
鈥淭he report is direct, comprehensive and reaches clear conclusions.
鈥淥ur police investigation is independent of the public inquiry. It operates under a different legal framework and so we cannot simply use the report鈥檚 findings as evidence to bring charges.
鈥淭o secure justice for those who died and all those affected by the fire we must examine the report 鈥� line by line 鈥� alongside the evidence from the criminal investigation. As I said previously, this will take us at least 12-18 months.
鈥淭his will lead to the strongest possible evidence being presented to the Crown Prosecution Service so they can make charging decisions.
"I can鈥檛 pretend to imagine the impact of such a long police investigation on the bereaved and survivors, but we have one chance to get our investigation right.
鈥淲e will be thorough and diligent in our investigation while moving as swiftly as possible. We owe that to those who died and all those affected by the tragedy.鈥�
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