Grenfell Tower: Police to 'assess' actions of project manager who binned notebooks after fire
Ms Williams tells the inquiry into the tragedy that she threw them out after deciding they had little value.
Tuesday 20 October 2020 17:40, UK
The actions of a Grenfell Tower project manager who threw out notebooks after the fire will be investigated to see if any crime was committed.
Claire Williams, who worked on the building's refurbishment, told the inquiry she had binned her records when she left her job in May 2018 - almost a year after the fire that killed 72 people.
She said there "was nothing underhand about it".
"I was clearing my desk, I looked and decided that everything that was in there was formally represented in minutes or other paperwork and it was of little value.
"It wasn't a conscious, hiding anything decision, it was 'I'm clearing my desk'. I put them in the bin."
Ms Williams' former colleague at Kensington and Chelsea Tenant Management Organisation (TMO), Peter Maddison, disclosed several notebooks and diaries to the inquiry late last week.
He is due to give evidence on Wednesday and will need to give a "clear and convincing" explanation for his late disclosure, inquiry lawyer Richard Millett QC said on Monday.
In a statement, Metropolitan Police (MPS) said they were aware of the evidence relating to Ms Williams' notes.
"Once the public inquiry has provided material to the MPS, we will review the material to assess its relevance," it said.
"If relevant documentation has been disposed of or withheld from the criminal investigation, the MPS will seek to establish the facts and assess whether a criminal offence may have been committed."
Tuesday's session of the inquiry paused for about 30 minutes when Ms Williams became emotional over an email she sent on the morning that Grenfell Tower was still burning, which outlined documents about the refurbishment.
She said: "I believe the morning after the fire there were discussions - obviously amongst the managers - as to what information would be needed in the longer term."
But Mr Millett said the email contained no "suggestion of surprise or shock that the building was burning" given alleged previous assurances by Simon Lawrence - manager at Rydon, the main firm doing the refurb - that the cladding was "completely inert and would not burn at all".
Both Ms Williams and her colleague, David Gibson, have said Mr Lawrence gave the assurance at a meeting attended by consultants Artelia, of which no written record has materialised.
Mr Lawrence denies giving such assurance and Philip Booth, of Artelia, said he "was definitely not at a meeting" where it was discussed.
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On Monday, inquiry lawyer Mr Millett QC asked Ms Williams if she was sure she was not trying "to reconstruct a conversation that never actually took place".
She said she would not do that and while the written notes would have been useful to have now, it was not a fabrication.
Mr Millett said: "A conversation of this nature, where Rydon were giving the TMO, its client, an unequivocal assurance that the cladding was completely inert and would not burn at all, would be something that you would have remembered when you saw that building burning - that must be right, surely?"
Ms Williams responded "No… I had other emotions, not that one."
"That wasn't uppermost in my mind at the time."
The inquiry has already found the deadly fire was fuelled by the aluminium composite material (ACM) panels used on the tower, which had a thermoplastic-filled core and a heat combustion akin to diesel.
It also found significant shortfalls in the building's emergency fire plans and management.
The second phase of the inquiry is due to run until June 2021.