Grenfell Tower: Investigators make first arrest in the investigation

A 38-year-old man has become the first person to be arrested by police investigating the Grenfell Tower fire.

The man, whom police did not name, was arrested by Metropolitan Police on Saturday in Sussex, on suspicion of perverting the course of justice in relation to the Grenfell Tower investigation.

He was taken to a local police station and has since been released under investigation.

Police say the arrest was not made in relation to the events heard at the Grenfell Tower Inquiry this week.

It is the first arrest to be made in relation to the June 2017 tragedy, which claimed the lives of 72 people at a tower block of flats in west London.

A public inquiry, chaired by Sir Martin Moore-Bick, examining the circumstances and causes of the disaster, is ongoing.

Phase One of the inquiry, which published its results last October, found “significant systemic failings” on the part of the London Fire Brigade, which kept residents in their apartments long after they should have been evacuated.

The inquiry is not scheduled to finish hearing evidence until December 2021 at the earliest.

The arrest comes after a project manager on the Grenfell Tower refurbishment last week admitted a project manager Working on the Grenfell Tower refurbishment was accused of   binning” her notebooks when a public inquiry and police investigation were underway.

Scotland Yard is assessing whether Claire Williams, who worked for Grenfell landlords the Kensington and Chelsea Tenant Management Organisation (TMO), committed a crime.

Grenfell survivors and relatives of the bereaved have launched a lawsuit against Arconic, the construction giant who supplied the cladding, in the US.

The company denies any wrongdoing.