Grenfell Tower fire inquiry: Survivors and families ask for representative panel to sit alongside 'out of touch' judge

Survivors of June's Grenfell Tower fire, Kensington and Chelsea Council and representatives from emergency services attended the first day of procedural hearings of the Grenfell Tower fire inquiry.

In a tense opening day, a lawyer representing 24 families affected by the fire urged retired Appeals Court judge Sir Martin Moore-Bick to appoint a diverse panel to sit alongside him.

Michael Mansfield QC's request came after the judge, appointed by Prime Minister Theresa May , was accused of being out of touch with the survivors.

The procedural hearing at Holborn Bar on Monday (December 11) dealt with issues regarding how the judge-led probe into the facts of the fire which claimed 71 lives, and "why" issues.

Grenfell Tower Inquiry

During the hearing Jeremy Johnson, representing Metropolitan Police , told the inquiry that alongside manslaughter charges, police were also looking into misconduct in public office, corporate manslaughter and breaches of fire safety charges in relation to the fire.

He went on to day that police officers have seized 31 million documents and 2,500 exhibits as part of the largest non-terror police investigation in the history of the force.

Protesters gathered outside Holbon Bar as the procedural hearing began (Image: Getty Images Europe)

A total of 270,000 documents are expected to be examined, with Sir Martin telling the inquiry that he hopes to provide an interim report into the blaze in August 2018.

Danny Friedman, representing 62 bereaved families, affected also laid out seven "confidence issues" survivors had with the inquiry.

These included a concern among those affected that they were simply a "vehicle to provide evidence", rather than participating in the process.

Sir Martin Moore-Bick was accused of being out of touch by survivors after a meeting on June 29 (Image: Getty Images Europe)

Mr Mansfield highlighted Theresa May's comments to Parliament in June 22, where she assured the public that survivors of the Grenfell Tower fire would be involved "in every step" of the inquiry.

He went on to tell the retired judge: "What happened thereafter, to some extent, has not restored the confidence."

The hearing was held almost exactly six months after the June 14 fire which claimed 71 lives and made hundreds of people homeless.

Protesters from Justice 4 Grenfell and other groups gathered outside to protest the inquiry, which they have been critical of since it was announced in late June.

Justice for Grenfell was also denied the opportunity to be one of the 424 individuals and groups granted "core participant" status which would give them access to evidence and power to suggest lines of questioning.

Protesters gathered with placard outside Holborn Bars where procedural hearings began (Image: Getty Images Europe)

Clarrie Mendy, a bereaved family member, founder of Relative Justice for Grenfell & co-founder of Humanity 4 Grenfell, said: "To ignore human rights and additionally fundamentally refuse to listen to community voices who have lived and experienced in any inquiry about Grenfell, is not only the height of disrespect to those who died but also an overt indication that the state and RBKC don’t care."

Earlier on Monday, Kensington and Chelsea Borough Council leader Elizabeth Campbell admitted to BBC Radio 4's Today programme that the council would not be formally represented at Thursday's memorial service for victims of the fire.

She admitted that survivors had asked the local authority to stay away from the December 14 service at St Paul's Cathedral, exactly six months after the fatal fire.

Councillor Campbell, who took over the running f the council after Councillor Nicholas Paget-Brown resigned under national pressure, said the survivor's request was "perfectly understandable".