Lakanal jurors reminded of risk assessment failings

Judge Frances Kirkham summing up yesterday afternoon at the Lakanal House inquest highlighted the evidence from David Walker, who had 29 years’ experience as a building surveyor.

She reminded jurors Mr Walker had said that when a ‘complex building’ was assessed it should be done by someone with technical knowledge of construction. Southwark Council’s fire risk assessments were done by housing officers who had had one day of training with the London Fire Brigade.

Mr Walker said that Lakanal House was a complex building because of various factors including its age, height and unusual scissor style construction. No fire risk assessment had been done on the 14-storey block in Camberwell, south London, when the fire happened on 3 July 2009 and the council had only started its programme of assessing blocks two months before.

Judge Kirkham also reminded jurors Mr Walker had said that fire risk assessors should see the inside of at least some of the flats in a block. He suggested a 10 per cent sample.

This would mean they looked at elements such as fire escape routes, fire protection and compartmentation - which stops a fire spreading outside the flat of origin for one hour.

The fire risk assessors, if they had assessed the block, ‘would have [then] said the boxing in [in Lakanal House] needed to be fire resistant’, Judge Kirkham said. The boxing in – supposed to be a fire-resistant material pinned to the underside of the staircase – under the stairs in flats 79 and 81 resisted flames for no more than two or three minutes.

Catherine Hickman, 31, died in flat 79. Helen Udoaka, 34, her 20-day-old baby Michelle, and Dayana Francisquini, 26, and her two children, three-year-old Felipe and six-year-old Thais, died in flat 81 next door.

The coroner will finish summing up today and the jury is expected to deliver its verdict next week.

See our Safe as houses page for full coverage of the inquest