London

    Grenfell Tower tenants illegally subletting given legal protection in bid to establish death toll Grenfell Tower tenants who were illegally subletting will not be prosecuted, the Government has announced in an attempt to help establish the number of victims of the deadly blaze. Communities Secretary Sajid Javid said that new legal guidance would ensure anybody who was unlawfully renting out their property in the building would avoid charges. It comes as authorities face increasing pressure to establish a total death toll, with some people alleging survivors had not come forward to report those living in their flat as missing due to fear of reprisal. Police believe at least 80 people died in the blaze on Wednesday, June 14, but officials have said they may not know the fina...

Sumon Ahmed: Fires had happened in Tower Hamlets again within few hours. This fire incident happened on the 4th floor of a residential building in St. Paul's Way in front of St. Paul's Secondary School. According to the report, A woman jumped from the 4-storied building and was on the street. Ambulance workers are providing medical services to a leopard from a 4 storey building. In the social media, the woman's body is covered by a fire service worker. The 17-year-old is believed to have fallen to her death as the blaze swept through a third-floor maisonette in St Paul’s Way. Fire fighters and paramedics were called to the scene shortly before 6am where a man was rescued from a fourth floor bedroom before being rushed to hospital. Three other people, who escaped the blaze before fire fight...

    A blaze has ripped through a block of new million-pound apartments near London's Victoria Park today. The fourth floor and attic roof at trendy Bow Wharf have been incinerated as the fire raged through the five-storey block today. The cause of the fire is still unknown at this stage, yet a picture shows solar panels on fire at the waterside development, where homes are on sale for more than £1million. One shocked witness told the MailOnline: I noticed massive billows of smoke when I was leaving my flat so I quickly rushed back and noticed it was the building opposite. "The spread seemed concentrated around the solar panels on the top. It looked a bit like the solar panels were on fire. At least 75% of the roof has been destroyed, while eighty fire fighters desperately try ...

    A woman who fled the Grenfell Tower fire found she was still having rent deducted for her wrecked flat by the council, a campaigner said. Yvette Williams, a coordinator for Justice 4 Grenfell, said the survivor made the discovery when she obtained a new bank card and saw her statement. A Tory Kensington and Chelsea councillor said she was very sorry to hear the claims. Catherine Faulks stressed she was not saying it's a tiny thing, and acknowledged it would be very upsetting for the affected person, but insisted the council is providing a a lot of hand-holding for survivors, including assigning an individual social worker to each family. Ms Williams said she received a call from the distressed survivor on Friday. She came to me and said she had just got her bank card and t...

    Kensington and Chelsea Borough Council leader Nicholas Paget Brown has said he is stepping down following criticism of the response to the Grenfell Tower disaster. Mr Paget-Brown cancelled a meeting to discuss the fire on Thursday because journalists were attending. One of the most senior Conservative councillors in the borough then called for him to stand down. Mr Paget Brown also faced calls to resign from London Mayor Sadiq Khan and a number of other senior politicians. Grenfell fire meeting scrapped after journalists gain access On Friday he said he had to accept responsibility for perceived failings by the council after the tragedy which claimed at least 80 lives. I have therefore decided to step down as leader of the council as soon as a successor is in place, he sai...

    A 52-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of fraudulently claiming to have lost family members in the Grenfell Tower disaster. He is alleged to have attempted to gain money and housing by pretending relatives had died in the blaze. It is alleged he came forward in the immediate aftermath of the tragedy and family liaison officers were assigned to him after he claimed he had lost his wife and son in the fire. Scotland Yard said he attempted to claim financial support after stating he had lost all his property. Police launched an investigation after there were inconsistencies in the man's stories. They also spoke to residents of the flat within Grenfell Tower where he claimed to live who said he did not live at the address. :: Grenfell judge: Inquiry into tower fire w...

    A six-month-old baby was found dead in her mother’s arms after the Grenfell Tower disaster, in which at least 80 people died or are missing presumed dead, an inquest has heard. Leena Belkadi’s body was found in a stairwell between the 19th and 20th floors of the 24-storey high-rise block, Westminster coroner’s court was told. The coroner’s officer, Eric Sword, said she was “found in her mother’s arms. Leena’s sister, Malak, aged eight, who was recovered from the 20th floor, where the family lived, and taken to St Mary’s hospital, also later died. The cause of death for both sisters was given as inhalation of fire fumes. The girls’ parents, Farah Hamdan and Omar Belkadi, also died in the blaze and inquests into their deaths have already been opened and adjourned. Another da...

Tower Hamlets Council's CCTV caught a criminal stabbing an on-duty plain clothes police officer and helped put him behind bars. Andrew Beadie, 20, of Claremont Road, Basildon embarked upon a series of violent assaults on 22 November 2016 that were captured by eagle eyed council officers. Beadie stabbed a police officer with a ten inch blade in an alleyway near the Bow Bells Pub in Bow Road, E3 on 22 November 2016. At the Old Bailey on Friday, 16 June, he was found guilty of grievous bodily harm with intent and sentenced to 12 years' imprisonment with a further two years on extended license. He showed no remorse throughout his interview with the police and in his evidence to the jury. The jury also heard that Beadie punched another man to the ground in Bow Road, E3 in an unprovoked attack o...