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Grenfell witnesses will not have evidence used against them in any future prosecution
Individual witnesses who give evidence to the Grenfell Tower inquiry will not have their evidence used against them in any future prosecution, the attorney general has ruled.
In a letter to the inquiry today, Suella Braverman said “no oral evidence” from the public hearings will be used in evidence against a person “in any criminal proceedings”.
However, the ruling does not cover corporate entities, which means evidence given to the inquiry can be used against companies in any future prosecution.
In a separate factsheet explaining the decision, the attorney general’s office said Ms Braverman was “not convinced” that applying immunity to corporate entities was “in the public interest”.
The factsheet also stressed that the ruling does not mean immunity from prosecution against anyone, but the attorney general has “concluded it will not jeopardise the police investigation or prospects of a future criminal prosecution”.
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The second phase of the inquiry, which is looking into the decisions around the refurbishment of Grenfell Tower that led to the fire in which 72 people died, was thrown into disarray earlier this month after an immunity bid was made by corporate witnesses.
In a response to today’s ruling, Grenfell United, the group representing survivors and the bereaved, said in a statement: “The past few weeks have been very difficult and this decision still makes us nervous. We can’t help but worry about how this will impact prosecutions later. It is clear that corporate lawyers are playing every trick in the book.”
It added: “We expect criminal prosecutions at the end of this and will not settle for anything less.”
The Grenfell Inquiry is now due to resume on 2 March at 10am after nearly a month delay.
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