Exonerate fire tenant, Grenfell probe told
BY MATTHEW YOUNG THE tenant of the flat where the Grenfell Tower blaze began should be “explicitly exonerated” over it, the inquiry into the disaster heard.
Behailu Kebede, 45, did “exactly” what residents were told to do in a fire and went further, his lawyer said.
Rajiv Menon QC yesterday said the taxi driver woke flatmates and neighbours and waited for them to leave first.
Yet it was claimed he packed a bag before escaping flat 16. Menon said: “If the inquiry does not explicitly exonerate Mr Kebede, all accusations will continue unabated.
“The inquiry needs to set the record straight … to thank Mr Kebede for his efforts to contact the fire brigade, raise the alarm and warn neighbours.”
Telling Behailu’s story for the first time, Menon said he was woken by an alarm in the kitchen of his fourthfloor flat last June 14.
Smoke was coming from behind his Hotpoint fridgefreezer and he called 999.
Branding the bag claims a “nasty lie”, Menon said: “Only when he believed there was nobody left on the floor did he himself leave. It is important to stress Mr Kebede is a significant witness, not a criminal suspect.”
The inquiry heard Behailu had suffered “trauma” and was offered witness protection, a new name and relocation.
Michael Mansfield QC later insisted the fire was “foreseeable”, citing past blazes caused by combustible cladding.