Retired judge to lead Grenfell fire inquiry
RETIRED Court of Appeal judge Sir Martin Moore-bick has been appointed to lead the public inquiry into the Grenfell Tower disaster.
Sir Martin, a former QC and Lord Justice of Appeal, will be leading the inquiry after he was recommended to Number 10 by Lord Thomas of Cwmgiedd, the Lord Chief Justice, The Daily Telegraph can confirm.
Theresa May, the Prime Minister, has insisted residents will be given a say over the direction of the investigation and Sir Martin’s appointment is expected to be officially announced today. Last night there was speculation that the announcement was delayed a week after he was recommended to Downing Street because of concerns over a controversial ruling in 2014.
Sir Martin ruled in favour of Westminster City Council in a dispute with Titina Nzolameso, a tenant who was contesting the council’s decision to rehouse her near Milton Keynes. His ruling was later overturned by the Supreme Court. However, Downing Street has insisted the delay in announcing was so families could be told. The death toll from the Grenfell Tower fire is believed to be “around 80 people”, the vast majority of whom were from 23 flats, police believe.
Det Supt Fiona Mccormack of the Metropolitan Police said contact had been made with at least one occupant from 106 of the 129 flats in the building.
From each of those properties, 18 people are dead or assumed dead, meaning the remaining victims are thought to have been in the flats wiped out by the inferno. It will be months before the final roll call of victims is established, Ms Mccormack said.
She said: “There are 23 flats that, despite huge investigative efforts, we have been unable to trace anyone that lives there. At this stage we must presume that no one in those flats survived; that includes anyone who lived there or was visiting them.”
A six-month-old baby was among the latest victims to be identified, found in her mother’s arms in the smoke-filled stairwell. Westminster Coroner’s Court opened and adjourned inquests into seven Grenfell Tower victims, including baby Leena Belkadi and her eightyear-old sister Malak.