No justice without people behind bars, says 12-year-old Grenfell victim's aunt

Published: 02 September 2024
on channel: Evening Standard
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Those who put profit above people’s lives must end up behind bars for justice to be served, the aunt of a child killed in the Grenfell Tower fire has said.

Sandra Ruiz said lives had been “shattered” by the 2017 blaze, with her 12-year-old niece Jessica Urbano Ramirez among the 72 people killed.

Ms Ruiz said people must be held to account and that the only justice she can accept is seeing perpetrators jailed for their roles in what happened.

Ahead of the final report being published by the Grenfell Tower Inquiry on Wednesday, she told the PA news agency: “For me, there’s no justice without people going behind bars.

“Our lives were shattered on that night, people need to be held accountable. They know what part they played. The inquiry knows what part they played. And the police know what part they played. Now they (police) just need to take some action about it.

“People who have made decisions putting profit above people’s safety need to be behind bars.”

In May, the Metropolitan Police said their investigators need until the end of 2025 to finalise their inquiry, and prosecutors will then need a year to decide whether charges can be brought.

Bereaved and survivors have described that wait, which could stretch to a decade after the catastrophic fire, as “unbearable”.

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