Lakanal inquest

10 January 2013

The council's thoughts are with all those affected by the tragic Lakanal fire of 2009. The inquests began on Monday 14 January 2013.

Purpose

The purpose of this briefing is to provide information about the Lakanal inquests and the council's role in those hearings. There is also advice about who to contact should you, or others, have any enquiries. You can keep up to date with what is being said by viewing daily transcripts of proceedings that are posted each evening on the Lakanal pages of the Lambeth Council website, which also contain further information about the inquests.

Background

On 14 January, the Coroner's inquests began into the six deaths resulting from the Lakanal fire that occurred on 3 July 2009 on the Sceaux Gardens Estate in Camberwell. Assistant Deputy Coroner, Her Honour Judge Frances Kirkham, has said that the inquests will last until Easter. The purpose of these inquests will be to establish the cause and surrounding circumstances of the deaths and how the fire spread.

What is an inquest?

An inquest is a judicial inquiry to find out the cause and circumstances surrounding a person’s death. Unlike criminal trials, inquests do not try to establish whether anyone was responsible for a person’s death. Witnesses give evidence but there is no prosecution or defence.

Anyone who has a 'proper interest' can question a witness at an inquest. It is up to the Coroner to decide who has this status and in the case of Lakanal, Southwark Council is a properly interested party, along with the London Fire Brigade and the families of the deceased amongst others.

Most inquests are carried out by the Coroner alone, but in this case, the inquests will be heard before a jury which will be asked to give a verdict at the end of the hearings, once they have heard all the relevant information.

You can find out more about Coroner’s inquests on the Ministry of Justice website.

The Lakanal inquests

Since the fire, the council has offered total cooperation to all investigating authorities, as well as the Coroner, and will continue to do so. Everyone wants the facts to be established as to what happened on that tragic evening.

The inquests are being held in public at Lambeth Town Hall and the administration of the inquests is the responsibility of Lambeth Council. James Maxwell-Scott has been appointed Counsel to the Inquests into the Lakanal fire and will ask witnesses questions on behalf of the Coroner.

A small number of current Southwark staff is likely to be required to give evidence to the inquest and they are being fully supported by the council. It is expected that some former members of staff will also have to give evidence. Likely, over one hundred witnesses from all the agencies and those directly involved will give evidence, along with thousands of documents that will also be available for consideration.

The scale and complexity of the investigations and the inquest led the council to employ external legal support, from BCL solicitors, to assist the Coroner and others in gathering the information required for the initial police investigation and then the inquest. The investigation has taken more than three years. 

Support is also being offered by housing colleagues to tenants and residents on the Sceaux Gardens estate in particular who are likely to be subject to increased media interest and focus over the next few months.

Interest in the inquests

It is expected that there will, understandably, be enormous interest in these inquests. However, the hearings must be able to run their proper course without ongoing speculation or continual additional comment until they are completed and all the facts have been established for the Coroner and the jury to consider.

Additional background (the Lakanal fire)

The incident

Lakanal is a fourteen storey block that was built in the 1950s and is typical of social housing at the time.

At around 4pm on 3 July 2009, a fire broke out in a flat on the ninth floor. Early findings from the police investigation suggest the cause of the fire was an electrical fault in a portable TV set.

The fire was attended by 18 fire engines and around 100 fire fighters as well as council and police officers.

Tragically, six people lost their lives in the fire. Dayana Francisquini and her two children, Thais and Felipe perished as did Helen Udoaka with her baby daughter Michelle. Catherine Hickman also sadly died.

Those left homeless by the fire were assessed for their housing needs at a nearby rest centre and were placed initially in temporary accommodation. All were allocated permanent new homes of their choice, in Southwark, by the end of 2009. They were paid home loss payments, given start-up packages of furniture, money and food, and leasehold properties were bought back by the council.

In the aftermath of the fire, the council spent £2.4m on site works, leasehold buybacks and home loss payments to displaced residents. Another £1.7m was spent on security, temporary accommodation and emergency provisions for residents.
 
The Lakanal building has remained vacant since the fire and no decision has been made on its future. It is currently only accessible to those directly involved in the inquests, and by written permission and signed agreement from the Coroner.

The ongoing response to the fire

Since 2009, over £45m has been allocated to the Council’s fire risk assessment programme and associated fire safety works for all social housing in the borough. The council works closely with London Fire Brigade (LFB) and meets regularly with them, informing them of progress on the risk profile of the borough. LFB assists the council in advising residents on fire safety and fitting smoke alarms inside their homes.

Following the fire, a lengthy and complex investigation began into what had happened. The council cooperated with all enquiries and supplied information to the authorities as part of the investigation.

In May 2012, it was confirmed that no charges would be brought against any organisation, including Southwark Council.

A pre-inquest review took place on 9 July 2012, when the Coroner set the date for the Lakanal inquests to start on 14 January 2013. The inquest is set to end before Easter 2013.

Statement

Cllr Ian Wingfield, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Housing, said: "As always, our thoughts are with the families and all those affected by the tragic Lakanal fire and we hope that the inquests bring them some closure.

"We fully support the inquests as all the facts must be established as to what happened on that dreadful day."

Page last updated: 28 December 2023