PROSECUTIONS should have been prioritised over the Grenfell inquiry, campaigners said today, following warnings that justice could be delayed until the end of the decade.

The Metropolitan Police said it would take 12-18 months to examine the inquiry’s report, which was published in full this week, and bring criminal charges. 

But former director of public prosecutions Lord Macdonald warned that justice for those responsible could be delayed until 2029.

“The criminal justice system is still suffering terribly from austerity cuts, which did enormous damage,” the Guardian reported him as saying.

“The upshot is that it now takes years for cases to come to trial after charge.” 

He described the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) aim of making charging decisions in 2026 as “optimistic” and said that even if that was possible, current trial schedules meant it could be another two or three years before trials begin. 

Michael Mansfield KC, who represented survivors at the inquiry, said that the police investigation should have come first, the Guardian reported.

This was echoed by Justice4Grenfell co-founder Yvette Williams, who said the inquiry should “never have taken priority over the criminal investigation.”

She argued: “If an ordinary citizen had committed the act that caused a fire of this magnitude, they would have faced the law immediately. It is unacceptable for justice to be delayed. 

“If the issue is resources, the government should provide the police and CPS with the necessary funding to expedite the process.”

The inquiry concluded that all 72 deaths in the 2017 fire were “avoidable.”

It found that firms behind the tower’s cladding and insulation had manipulated fire safety tests on flammable materials used in the building’s refurbishment and that a government drive for deregulation has resulted in safety concerns being “ignored, delayed or disregarded.”