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Grenfell charges delays frustrating, say families
A n artist is at war in court with his millionaire neighbour who he claims stole half of his front garden whilst he was abroad. William Savage says Richard Bankart, his neighbour in the basement, “dug out” part of the garden at the front of his flat in Stockwell, South West London. Banker turned multimedia artist Mr Savage, 45, claims eco-tech expert Mr Bankart, 59, then built a sunken patio on it while he was away living and studying in Paris. The artist is now asking a judge to grant an injunction barring Mr Bankart from “his continued trespass and use of his front garden”. The pair have been battling over the patio since 2003. Basement garden battle Woman dies in flats fall A woman died after she was believed to be visiting Littlecross House apartments in Bristol when the incident took place. Police were called to the scene and found a body at around 2am on 12 January. Three women were arrested in connection with incident and were released under investigation, police said. fell from a block of flats. The 50-year-old
F amilies of the victims of Grenfell may have to wait until 2025 to find out if anyone will be charged for the 72 deaths. Police have told relatives and survivors that they won’t make any decision on charges until after the second phase of the public inquiry into the disaster is complete. The latest stage of the probe began in January and has already caused anger because the firms involved have asked for immunity from prosecution. The second phase is more complex and likely E xisting leasehold legislation has caused hostility and disputes during the enfranchisement process, a leading member of ALEP has said. Barrister Nicola Muir made the comments as she welcomed Law Commission proposals which, if adopted, could benefit both leaseholders and freeholders when going through enfranchisement. Nicola, who works at Tanfield Chambers, said: “The current system
the inquiry, until at least 2023 to publish his final report. They say they will then have to wait a further two years for police and prosecutors to decide what charges, if any, can be brought. Shah Aghlani, whose mother Sakina Afrasehabi, and aunt, Fatima Afrasehabi died on the 18th floor of the tower said: “It is frustrating. Justice delayed is justice denied. "Quite a few of us think charges should come sooner rather than later but they [police] keep saying they don’t want to miss anything. deadline, they may have to accept a low or unfair price for their interest,” Nicola added. The Law Commission is due to publish its report setting out reforms to the current system to make enfranchisement simpler, cheaper and quicker within weeks. She welcomed the proposals that would scrap “existing draconian sanctions” for both leaseholder and freeholder if key deadlines are missed. Nicola added: “The new regime would be more flexible and would give the first-tier tribunal a much wider jurisdiction to deal with the whole gamut of disputes which can arise in enfranchisement claims.”
to take longer than the first inquiry, which took 16 months. Figures released by the Grenfell Inquiry show the second phase of the investigation into the disaster has unearthed 200,000 separate documents – 10 times the number analysed in the first stage. Phase two will be split into eight separate modules, with 21 companies granted “core participant”status along with more than 600 individuals. Relatives fear it could take Sir Martin Moore-Bick, the retired Court of Appeal judge who chairs
Enfranchisement process causes hostility, barrister claims
outmoded enfranchisement process – not the individuals involved – that leads to disputes. Instead what we need is scope for more negotiation, open dialogue and process-led interactions.” As one of the sector’s leading barristers, Nicola has worked on all aspects of landlord and tenant disputes and specialises in property litigation for both residential and commercial cases. She said that enfranchisement claims frequently became hostile because aspects of the legislation could trap the unwary. “If a tenant misses a deadline in the process, the right to an extended lease is lost and a new claim can’t be made for a further year. If the landlord misses a
creates an adversarial environment, whereas what we need is less of the ‘us v them’ mentality. “It’s the
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