Grenfell Tower inquiry halted by protesters calling it a ‘cover-up’ | UK news

The Grenfell Tower inquiry was halted within minutes of its restart when community activists stood up in the room and angrily shouted it was “a cover-up”.

Jonty Leff, 42, and Scott Dore, 40, shouted at the chairman, Sir Martin Moore-Bick, that the inquiry was a “disgrace” because witnesses who worked for some of the companies involved in the works had been assured by the attorney general that their evidence would not be used in criminal prosecutions against them.

The hearing on Monday descended into confusion when the two men complained that this assurance was not given to firefighters who gave evidence in an earlier stage of the inquiry in 2018.

“You are giving them different treatment,” shouted Leff, who later described himself as a political activist. “You should shut them down.” Dore said he lived in west London near the tower.

The protest took place just as Andrzej Kuszell, the director of Studio E, the architecture firm that worked on the disastrous refurbishment, was starting to give evidence. He is one of the witnesses who sought and received the undertaking from the attorney general.

Joe Delaney, who lived in the blocks neighbouring Grenfell Tower and is a core participant in the inquiry, also shouted: “You sold your soul, Sir Martin. The public inquiry isn’t about an inquiry. It’s a fucking cover-up.”

Moore-Bick halted proceedings and ordered Leff and Dore to be removed. They refused, and the bereaved and survivors remonstrated with them in the room for several minutes.

Karim Mussilhy, whose uncle, Hesham Rahman, died in the fire, said: “There are bereaved and survivors who want to listen.”

The protesters shouted back: “But what is the point if what they say can’t be used in a court of law?”

“I am here with my family,” said Mussilhy. “I want to hear what these idiots have to say.”

Willie Thompson, another survivor, shouted at the pair to get out. They were approached by Stuart Cundy, the lead officer in the Metropolitan police investigation into the disaster, and after a few minutes they agreed to leave.

Moore-Bick had just explained that the undertaking by the attorney general meant that “no one will be able to justify refusing to answer questions on the grounds that to do so would or might expose him or herself personally to a risk of prosecution”.

Speaking outside the hearing in Paddington, central London, Leff said his protest was triggered by the attorney general’s decision last week.

The Metropolitan police are investigating possible crimes including gross negligence manslaughter, which can attract long prison terms. The force has said it is gathering its own evidence and is not relying on the inquiry.

“It’s one rule for them and one rule for the firefighters,” said Leff. “It means the firefighters were hung out to dry. It’s a whitewash. It means the inquiry is a whitewash.”

Dore added: “I am here to speak up for the families who lost their loved ones.”

The inquiry resumed with Richard Millett QC, counsel to the inquiry, cross-examining Kuszell, who admitted that refurbishing tower blocks was “something that was not within our normal experience”.

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