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Are we any closer to justice for Grenfell?
June 14 2026 will mark 9 years since the disaster of Grenfell Tower. This week the Metropolitan Police Service [MPS} announced that they are planning to ‘seek criminal charges against 77 companies and people‘. They are hopeful that the CPS will reach a decision in time for the 10th anniversary commemorations in 2027. This is the culmination of almost 9 years of MPS investigation, c. 11,400 witness statements, 56 interviews under caution, involving 100s of police staff and costing many millions of pounds. In addition, the Grenfell Inquiry (already archived) disclosed over 320,00 documents, received over 1,600 witness statements, and held more than 300 hearings, costing the nation many more millions of pounds. So how is it, that after all this work, all the posing and answering of questions, all the soul searching, discussion and debate, we still seem to be no further in finding justice for the 72 people who died, the many who were harmed, both mentally and physically, those bereaved and their families and friend? Additionally, everyone saw this disaster unfold before their very eyes, whether they were at the scene or vicariously though the media. We all instinctively know what was experienced that night was avoidable, a human made tragedy, a crime, Whilst there is no one law which addresses the scale of this disaster, nevertheless all who bear witness recognise the horror, the injustice and the need for accountability.
Stormzy spoke for many at the Brit Awards in 2018, identifying those responsible as criminals, pointing out that the Criminal Justice System knows very well what to do with them. Many other artists, such as Edwin (below), Chris Ofili, Big Zuu and Lowkey (ft. Kaia) to name but a few, have also utilised their medium to make space for those critical perspectives to be seen and heard. You would think for a country famed for the spread of its CJS throughout its empire and created on the basis of Cesare Becarria’s principles of celerity [swiftness], certainty and severity, that justice would be not only done, but seen to be done. After all millions of people, both home and abroad, witnessed the events of that horrific night and they are watching to see that justice is delivered.
But to return to the start of this blog entry, the MPS announcement has received mixed responses, some are cautiously optimistic that change may eventually come. But many more are frustrated at the time this has taken, the lack of urgency demonstrated by successive governments, the perceived likelihood of any successful prosecutions, the list goes on. Grenfell United capture much of this in their response to the MPS ‘announcement.
Grenfell United are right to be concerned about the resourcing of the courts. In 2025 the National Audit Office reported that the Crown Court had a outstanding caseload of 67,284. This further increased by December 2025 to 80,203, who knows where it stands now. Just think of all those lives suspended in limbo – victims/survivors, defendants, witnesses, the bereaved and their families/friends – left waiting, unable to move on, unable to reach closure, unable to assess whether justice has been achieved. An institution at breaking point.
So does this mean that we’re now living in a lawless society where anyone can commit crime, no matter how serious, and get away with it? Not really, it just means that the CJS has a different perspective on violence and harm, going for what, in Criminology, we would describe as “low hanging fruit”. Rather than make sense of the complexities contained within Grenfell tower, there are many other crimes to be solved, ones that make the data look impressive. If you don’t believe me have a look at the list below:
- Omega Mwaikambo
- Reis Morris
- Eamon Zada
- Alvin Thompson
- Koffi Kouakou
- Daniel Steventon
- Moses Ettienne
- Antonio Gouveia
- Derrick Peters
- Elaine Douglas
- Tommy Brooks
But what do these names have in common? It may surprise you to know that they have all been convicted of crimes in relation to Grenfell Tower. However, not one of these people were involved in the building, maintenance or oversight of the Tower, neither were they involved in the response on the night or its aftermath. Instead, these people have been convicted of different crimes, ranging from posting photos of the dead on social media, to false claims to residency in Grenfell allowing them to access financial support, to running a cannabis farm within the Tower.
Let’s consider just two of these, survivor Omega Mwaikambo who took photos of a dead victim and posted them to facebook. Within two days of the fire’s outbreak, he was sentenced to three months imprisonment. A man who had lost his home and his belonging, traumatised, is incarcerated. Another example, on 6 March 2018, not even a year after the disaster, courts were able to sentence another survivor, Eamon Zada, to a 12 week suspended prison sentence plus a community service order of 200 hours for growing cannabis.
What this list above tells us is that the CJS has an appetite for justice, it can act with celerity, certainty and severity, when it wants to. It can recognise harm and culpability, but again, only when it wants to. At this point we also need to recognise the repeated well-founded allegations that the CJS operates with partiality and discrimination both in terms of race and gender. Much as I hate to think of crime in terms of triviality/seriousness, recognising the harms inherent in all crime , it is hard to comprehend that for the CJS, the crimes detailed above are seemingly more important than the lives of the former residents of Grenfell Tower.
To answer the question posed in the title, I would say no. Until the CJS, institutions, government and indeed, society changes its view on what is harm, what is crime and who are the dangerous members of our society, we can expect this injustice to continue and unfortunately, be repeated again and again.
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I want to study Criminology
This is the time of the year we meet a lot of prospective students who come to one of our discovery/open days telling us why they wish to join us! I have taken some of their ideas and put them into content reflecting on our curriculum and the programme(s) we offer at the UON
I have read something in my sociology textbook, it was talking about deviant behaviour, and I thought to myself; that is interesting! I was reading in a psychology textbook something about a doll that adults are hitting and the kids watching them emulate their behaviour and I thought, if that explains the behaviour in my school when the kids used to fight. I was going over my notes in religious education talking about ethics and morality and I wondered if we are born with an innate moral compass that tell us right from wrong. The starting point in all three examples is curiosity. We explore some ideas at school, we hear stories in the news, and we are intrigued. The name sounds interesting because at the end of deviance lies crime, in the explanation of doll hitting the behaviour is violence and at the end of the questions about morality, rests criminality. For some others the curiosity comes from a true crime book that describes how a monstrous killer was able to kill two schoolgirls whilst joining the town in their search: or after watching a documentary of this female serial killer who worked as a sex worker and occasionally killed her punters. Maybe it was that crime series about this seemingly nice, terminally ill schoolteacher who started making drugs and selling them to gangs.
Any of the above sound exciting, interesting to enroll in at a university of your choice. In fact, every year hundreds of UK students will choose to study criminology in one of the different available ways to study it across the country. The curiosity and interest materialise and in recent years criminology has overtaken several cognate disciplines in terms of student numbers. Universities have invested in teams delivering renditions of criminology across the country. Our version of criminology is focused on multidisciplinary perspectives exploring different theoretical conventions and helping our students to grow in confidence in an area that is both fascinating and complex. Firstly we dispel the mythology on criminology from the reality and the scientific explorations of the discipline. We provide the relevant examples to see the evolution of thought and the development of perspectives. Then we work with our students to acquire the skills to seek out the information that will become their knowledge base. We encourage the development of independence, creativity and critical analysis.
In a recent session with finalists, one student commented that she found criminology challenging. It is a discipline that looks at crime and its aftermath but also considers that as a phenomenon crime is a social construct. In other words, of course its complex; we are talking about harm and the effects/causes it has on individuals and the wider society; but understanding how crime is generated, the impact it has and the ways we can address the “problem of crime” is an insightful educational experience. Like going up a mountain, you may feel the strain and pain of doing it whilst at the base camp or halfway but once you reach the peak, you get views of something else. For those who wish to join us; be open to new perspectives and be prepared to have your mind blown!
To find out more, please visit:
BA (Hons) Criminology with Psychology
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A smorgasbord of thought (AKA a head full of magic)
Its been a few weeks since I’ve written a blog and whilst there are plenty of topics to pick from, I never quite got my head round writing about anything in depth. I’ve thought about a lot, I never stop thinking about a lot, some it meaningful and some of it not. I like to think that some of the stuff is quite profound but that’s just in my imagination, I think. Anyway, rather than trying to put together some deep and meaningful narrative about the state of the world I thought I’d provide a few highlights.
When I read Jes’ blog the other week about graffiti, I couldn’t help thinking that we do far too much to try to justify and somehow nullify the effects of criminality. For all our theorising and empathising as criminologists, we shouldn’t lose sight of the fact that crime results in victims and being a victim of crime is at best an unpleasant experience. So, I have to disagree with Jes on one point, grafitti is not art, its criminal damage, vandalism if you like. Very rarely have I ever gazed upon a graffiti covered bridge, wall, shop front, shutter, railway station siding or railway carriage and thought to myself, wow that’s nice. Let’s call it what it is.
I think it was the same week that I read a post on ‘LinkedIn’ about the silence surrounding the murder of Julia James, a 53-year-old Police Community Support Officer. The silence the author of the post was referring to was the contrast between the public response to Julia James’ death and that of Sarah Everard, a 33-year-old marketing executive. No vigil, no public outrage, no ‘claim the streets back’. I wondered what dictates the public response to such horrific events. Is it age, occupation, circumstance or just timing?
I watched the news this week somewhat bemused by the response of some industry chiefs and business owners. The airline industry is less than pleased with the government’s approach to relaxing of restrictions around travel and some business owners are apoplectic about the fact that the removal of restrictions might be delayed. It might be a bit simplistic to state this, but it seems that they value business more than lives.
As for those that went on holiday abroad, thinking they wouldn’t need to quarantine when they came back only to find that the rules changed, and they now have to. More fool you, maybe I’ve missed a trick here, but I don’t think the Covid virus and its mutations will wait for you to enjoy the rest of your holiday before spreading a little more. Don’t complain about quarantine nor the cost of testing, you put yourself in that position, now take some responsibility and suck it up instead of blaming someone else.
In a conversation, a friend of mine told me ‘the problem is people don’t like being told what to do’. This was said in the context of Covid and our discussion about the idiots that think any rules or guidance just doesn’t apply to them. The comment did however make me think about a paper I read some time ago by Storch (1975). When the new police were introduced into this country in 1829, there were few who looked upon them favourably. One of the main issues was simply that the populace did not like being restricted in their ‘immoral or illegal’ pastimes. We can have a debate about who makes the rules but it seems to me the most pressing point is that little has changed. Take off the rose-tinted glasses, there never was a golden era of policing, the police have never been liked and never will be. I wonder how the population would act if there were no police though?
I’m a little weary now, all of this thinking and writing has worn me out. Time for a lie down in a darkened room.
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It’s different now… it happened to me
A few weeks ago, @paulaabowles shared an article on the Criminology Facebook page which posed the question of whether graffiti is art or crime. My response was art. And like all art, not all variations, interpretations or styles are for everyone. I know I can look at some graffiti and be quite taken aback at the brightness, boldness and creativity which shines through. I can also look at some and go ‘eugh’. However I have the same reactions to various classical and well-known pieces. My unrefined self does not get all the hype about a number of Picasso’s works (possibly all the ones I have seen). Nevertheless this is the beauty of art: it is down to individual taste.
So for me, I was fairly certain on my opinions and convictions towards graffiti as an art form, and as an example of the CJS further stigmatising and criminalisation young people’s behaviours: something I am certain we are all quite familiar with at this stage in our criminological journey. However those beliefs and informed views were put to the test over the Bank Holiday (BH) Weekend, and in all honesty I think I am still trying to get to grips with them. It is different now…. It happened to me.
Some context: as those of you who have read various blog posts from myself will no doubt remember, my partner runs a small kiosk near one of the Royal Parks in London. Often during the weekends and summer months, I provide an extra pair of hands to help clean and serve during the busier periods. And as a result of the pandemic, my partner finds themselves going from a team of 4 down to just them, and me when I am able to support: this was the case for the BH Weekend. Off we popped, down to London for a day of serving hotdogs, drinks and ice creams. However our day was thrown off course by some ‘ugly’ graffiti all over the front of the kiosk.
My partner was angry, and felt personally attacked (not really sure by who- but guess that’s besides the point). It is not the first time the kiosk has had graffiti on it, but it is the first time I have seen it in person and witnessed my partner’s response. Rather than starting our working day and opening up, we had to clean the graffiti off. My partner set to this: just over 3 hours later some of it has been removed, but so has some of the kiosk’s paint. It looks a mess. We are now at midday and we cannot afford to remain closed and keep cleaning. We have lost 3 hours of trading time to try and remove it, only to remove some of it and some of the kiosk’s paint. I am informed that we shall need to go to B&Q to try and find some graffiti remover: Capitalism wins again! But seeing my partner cleaning for 3 hours, losing the trading hours and for this end result: I can’t help but feel angry, frustrated and in want of some kind of justice. It’s different now… it happened to me.
But what realistically would justice be in the scenario? What do I actually want as a result? I have no idea. I asked my partner who said they just wanted them ‘not to do it’. It is private property, will my partner call the police? Nope: just nuisance annoying behaviour, but not much anyone can do about it. I feel less inclined to call it art. I like my partner’s use of ‘nuisance’ behaviour: it feels very accurate. I do not think my partner was targeted, I think it was available as a surface to be used for that individual or individuals to express themselves. But I am shaken in my previously held convictions. Shouldn’t something be done. We lost 3 hours of trading, the kiosk now needs to be repainted and we shall need to purchase some graffiti remover. All for some expression of ‘art’? Shouldn’t there be some kind of repercussion?
I am not too sure. I also know when this has happened before, and I have not been present to witness the impact it has on my partner and the kiosk I have been very nonchalant about it. ‘Oh dear, that’s frustrating’, ‘ah well, never mind’. But being there and seeing it: I view it differently. And this is something many of us come to grips with when considering hypothetical moral situations and larger ethical questions. We think we will act one way, but if it happened to us: it is quite possible our opinions, informed views and beliefs would change. I still think graffiti is art, but I am not so convinced in my previous assertation that it is not a crime…
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A Love Letter: in praise of art
Some time ago, I wrote ‘A Love Letter: in praise of poetry‘, making the case as to why this literary form is important to understanding the lived experience. This time, I intend to do similar in relation to visual art.
Tomorrow, I’m plan to make my annual visit to the Koestler Arts’ Exhibition on show at London’s Southbank Centre. This year’s exhibition is entitled Another Me and is curated by the musician, Soweto Kinch. Previous exhibitions have been curated by Benjamin Zephaniah, Antony Gormley and prisoners’ families. Each of the exhibitions contain a diverse range of unique pieces, displaying the sheer range of artistic endeavours from sculpture, to pastels and from music to embroidery. This annual exhibition has an obvious link to criminology, all submissions are from incarcerated people. However, art, regardless of medium, has lots of interest to criminologists and many other scholars.
I have never formally studied art, my reactions and interpretations are entirely personal. I reason that the skills inherent in criminological critique and analysis are applicable, whatever the context or medium. The picture above shows 4 of my favourite pieces of art (there are many others). Each of these, in their own unique way, allow me to explore the world in which we all live. For me, each illustrate aspects of social (in)justice, social harms, institutional violence and the fight for human rights. You may dislike my choices. arguing that graffiti (Banksy) and photography (Mona Hatoum) have no place within art proper. You may disagree with my interpretation of these pieces, dismissing them as pure ephemera, forgotten as quickly as they are seen and that is the beauty of discourse.
Nonetheless, for me they capture the quintessential essence of criminology. It is a positive discipline, focused on what “ought” to be, rather than what is. To stand small, in front of Picasso’s (1937) enormous canvas Guernica allows for consideration of the sheer scale of destruction, inherent in mechanised warfare. Likewise, Banksy’s (2005) The Kissing Coppers provides an interesting juxtaposition of the upholders of the law behaving in such a way that their predecessors would have persecuted them. Each of the art pieces I have selected show that over time and space, the behaviours remain the same, the only change, the level of approbation applied from without.
Art galleries and museums can appear terrifying places, open only to a select few. Those that understand the rules of art, those who make the right noises, those that have the language to describe what they see. This is a fallacy, art belongs to all of us. If you don’t believe me, take a trip to the Southbank Centre very soon. It’s not scary, nobody will ask you questions, everyone is just there to see the art. Who knows you might just find something that calls out to you and helps to spark your criminological imagination. You’ll have to hurry though…closes 3 November, don’t miss out!
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Should reading be a punishment?
Gillian is an Academic Librarian at the University of Northampton, supporting the students and staff in the Faculty of Health and Society.
I was inspired to write this blog post by an article from the BBC news website that my friend sent me (BBC, 2019). A reading list was used as a punishment for teenagers who were convicted of daubing graffiti across a historically significant building in the state of Virginia, USA. Normally such an offence would earn a community service order. In this case, due to the nature of the crime – using racially charged symbols and words, the Prosecutor and Deputy Commonwealth Attorney Alejandra Rueda decided education may be the cure. She provided the five teenagers with a reading list that they had to read, and write assignments on, over the course of their 12-month sentence.
“Ignorance is not an excuse” is a principle expressed regularly throughout society, yet are we doing anything to address or dispel this ignorance? Rueda realised that books may help these teenagers to understand the impact of what they’d done and the symbols and language they had used in the graffiti. She chose books that would help educate them about racism, anti-Semitism, apartheid and slavery, to name just a few of the topics covered in the reading list. These were the books that helped her understand the wider world, as she grew up. Rueda’s approach indicated that punishment without an understanding of the impact of their crime, would not help these teenagers to engage with the world around them. These books would take them to worlds far outside their own and introduce them to experiences that were barely covered in their High School history lessons.
It’s not the only time an ignorance of history has been highlighted in the news recently. A premiere league football player was investigated for apparently making a Nazi salute. Although he was found not guilty, the FA investigation found him to be appallingly ignorant of Fascism and Hitler’s impact on millions of people across the globe (Church, 2019). Whilst the FA lamented his ignorance, I’m unsure they have done anything to help him address it. Would he be willing to read about the Holocaust and impact of Fascism in Europe? Would being forced to read about the lives of people over 70 years ago, help him understand how a chance photograph can affect people?
Should reading be a punishment, would it help people understand the impact of their actions? As a Librarian, people often assume that all I do all day is read. For me, reading is a luxury I indulge in daily, when I’m at home. I find a distinct difference between reading by choice, for escapism, and reading because you have to. I remember studying English Literature at school and finding any books I was forced to read, quickly lost their charm and became a chore rather than a pleasure. I’m not sure reading should be a punishment; it could disengage people from the joy and escapism of a good book. However, I understand the value of reading in helping people to explore topics and ideas that may be well outside their own world.
There is a growing body of literature that reflects on bibliotherapy and how reading can help people in varying stages of their life (Hilhorst et al., 2018; Brewster et al., 2013). A recent report by Hilhorst et al., (2018) advocates reading to transform British society, address isolation and improve social mobility. I believe reading can help improve our quality of life, helping us improve literacy, understand complex social issues and offer escapism from the everyday. However, I hesitate to view reading as a magical solution to society’s problems. Some people advocate the literary classics, the numerous lists you can find online that extort the virtues of reading the finest of the literary canon – but how much of it is just to conform to the social snobbery around reading ‘good literature’, a tick list? We should encourage reading, not force it upon people (McCrum, 2003; Penguin Books Ltd, 2019; Sherman, 2019).
Reading can help expand horizons and can have a tremendous impact on your world view, but it shouldn’t be a punishment. What Rueda did in Virginia, is illustrate how an education can help us address the ignorance in our society. We should encourage people to explore beyond their community to understand the world around us. Reading books can offer an insight and allow us to explore these ideas, hopefully helping us to avoid repeating or perpetuating the mistakes of the past.
References:
BBC (2019) Graffiti punished by reading – ‘It worked!’ says prosecutor, BBC News [Online]. Available from: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/stories-47936071 [Accessed 18/04/19].
Brewster, L., Sen, B. and Cox, A. (2013) ‘Mind the Gap: Do Librarians Understand Service User Perspectives on Bibliotherapy?’, Library Trends, 61(3), pp. 569–586. doi: 10.1353/lib.2013.0001.
Church, B. (2019) Wayne Hennessey: EPL player showed ‘lamentable’ ignorance of Fascism, CNN [Online]. Available from: https://edition.cnn.com/2019/04/16/football/wayne-hennessey-fa-nazi-salute-english-premier-league-crystal-palace-spt-intl/index.html [Accessed 18/04/19].
Hilhorst, S., Lockey, A. and Speight, T. (2018) “It’s no exaggeration to say that reading can transform British society…”: A Society of Readers, DEMOS [online] Available from: http://giveabook.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/A_Society_of_Readers_-_Formatted__3_.pdf [Accessed 15/04/19]
McCrum, R. (2003) The 100 greatest novels of all time: The list, The Guardian [Online]. Available from: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2003/oct/12/features.fiction [Accessed 18/04/19].
Penguin Books Ltd (2019) 100 must-read classic books, as chosen by our readers, Penguin [Online]. Available from: https://www.penguin.co.uk/articles/2018/100-must-read-classic-books/ [Accessed 18/04/19].
Sherman, S. (2019) The Greatest Books, The Greatest Books [Online]. Available from: https://thegreatestbooks.org/ [Accessed 18/04/19].
Thoughts from the criminology team 