no. of statement: 1 grenfell tower public inquiry … of bernard shaw, walkway...him. i also knew...
Post on 12-Mar-2020
6 Views
Preview:
TRANSCRIPT
Witness Statement of: Bernard Shaw
No. of statement: 1
Exhibits: 0
Date of statement: 30.05.18
GRENFELL TOWER PUBLIC INQUIRY
WITNESS STATEMENT OF BERNARD SHAW
I, Bernard Shaw, will say as follows:
1. This statement is my account of events that took place on 14th June 2017. This state-
ment is made for the purposes of Phase 1 of the Grenfell Tower Public Inquiry. I wish
to make a further statement as part of Phase 2 of the Inquiry.
Background
2. I was born in the United Kingdom but moved to the Caribbean at a young age where I
spent my early childhood. I came back to London as a teenager to live at
Tersterton Walk with my father, three sisters Sharon, Sabrina and Samantha and my
younger brother Michael. My siblings all still live at that address.
3. I moved into ETesterton Walk in September 1991.
4. I went to and have a history degree from the
I've often tutored children in the community and so I became
familiar with a few of them through that.
5. There is more I wish to say about what it was like to live on the Estate but I will wait
to make a further statement as part of Phase 2.
1Bernard Shaw
IWS00000461_0001
14th June
6. On the night of the 13th June, I was talking on the phone from around 11:30pm to
Eddie Daffarn, he lived on the 13th floor of Grenfell Tower and we have known each
other for about fifteen to sixteen years. Eddie is very political and we are both active
in advocating for our community. We were talking on the phone for a long while up
until 12.15am, we were making plans to go for a walk the next day and were talking
about what we needed to do in relation to the TMO and RBKC's plans to hire private
contractors to do work in the Tower.
7. At around 12:20am I remember I was talking to another friend of mine on the phone,
Jevon Moses, who lived in front of the Tower in Grenfell Walks. I was telling him
that I can smell something burning I thought it was my phone, and he said "nah its
nothing". Ten minutes later at around 12:30am he called me back and told me that
the Tower was on fire. I immediately ran outside through the Walks which leads to
the front of the Tower. There were at least twenty people there already, all on-lookers.
8. I've never seen anything like it, it began as a small fire in about only two of the floors
towards the bottom of the Tower on the side of the Tower I was facing, but the fire
was not small for very long. It was glowing, and pieces of the building were descaling
like skin and falling straight to the ground next to the Tower. I remember thinking at
the time that it must have been the cladding because nothing else would peel off that
way. I think it was about quarter of the cladding on fire. It was shocking to see.
I remember trying to call Eddie to make sure he got out, but I couldn't get through to
him. I also knew Raymond Bernard and Steven Power. We were all friends and had
known each other for about forty years. Raymond was slightly older than I was, and I
knew his sister Bernadette. We all used to socialise together, we'd go to parties
together, the pub and betting shop and we'd always check in with each other every so
often.
2Bernard Shaw
IWS00000461_0002
10. 1 also knew the El-Wahabi family. I knew the daughter Nur Huda the best and her
brother Yasin. I became familiar with them over the last ten years when visiting Eddie
in the Tower and I had watched them grow up. Nur Huda knew that I used to tutor
other students in the community and once approached me to tutor her. I also became
familiar with their parents.
1 1. I was standing there watching the fire for about fifteen to twenty minutes before the
police came. The police and fire service anived together. I saw around five police
officers starting to usher us back, they were shouting at us aggressively to get back
into our homes as well as the residents of Grenfell Walks.
12. I saw quite a few armed police around. I thought something was going on. I thought it
was a bomb, probably because of the current political climate. Several police officers
were posted in front of the entrances to the Walkways.
13. You could hear the sirens of the fire trucks but not the trucks themselves. I knew that
Bramley Road was blocked off because of gas works, and I saw about five or six of
the fire attendants standing around, but I could not be sure what they were doing.
14. At around 12:50am I went back into my flat because the police weren't allowing us to
stand around there anymore, and about ten minutes later there was lots of banging on
the doors in our Walkway. They were telling everyone to get out of the building.
15. I started fearing that the Tower might fall, and so I grabbed some shorts, boxers and a
towel and put them in a bag because I didn't think we'd be allowed back in, I rushed
out of the building. My neighbours and I all assembled at the front foyer of Testerton
Walk which is on top of the Resource Centre, we were there all day.
3Bernard Shaw
IVVS00000461_0003
16. From where I was standing, I had a clear view of the East side of the Tower, but I
couldn't see anything below the sixth or seventh floors. I could hear people shouting
for help. Half an hour after leaving my flat at around 1:30am, I saw someone jump out
of the Tower and I felt extremely scared because I thought more people were going to
jump. I saw people were flashing their phones in the windows. I was just standing
there outside with my neighbours, watching. It was very sombre and very solemn; to
this day we are all still pinching ourselves because we can't believe it happened.
17. The building was burning all night. I was standing there all night just watching the
Tower burning with my neighbours. There were times when we'd talk to each and
speculate about the cause of the fire but for the most part we were just standing in
silence. I was numb and emotionally exhausted. I was concerned about my friends in
the Tower, and the information available at this point was very cloudy I didn't know
what was going on or whether most the people in the Tower had gotten out. There
was nothing I could do but stand there and wait to see who had escaped.
18. Between 6am and 7am I remember my neighbours, Isabella and her husband, came
out of their flat dressed for work, they knew nothing about the fire until that moment.
19. At around 9am I noticed that journalists from all over the world had arrived, I was
approached by reporters from Singapore and Australia.
20. At around 1:30pm I went back into my flat to take a nap as I had been up all night.
Soon after I heard someone at my front door was knocking. It was three police
officers saying "you need to come out". I asked them whether we would be allowed
back in. I did not get an answer from them.
21. I was told by my neighbours to go to St Clements Church. We all congregated there.
The Church was very helpful. They were directing people to accommodation and beds
4Bernard Shaw
IVVS00000461_0004
and in the following days they were giving grants and running advice centres and
therapies.
22. I stayed at the Church for a few hours, had cup of tea and I was checking in with
people I knew until about 3pm, I then went back to Testerton Walk foyer and sat with
my neighbour most of whom were still congregated there. At this point I saw about
ten firefighters pass us. They had been taking shifts to go in and out of the Tower all
night. We all broke out into a rousing applause to show appreciation for the
firefighters and the work they were doing, it was very moving.
23. At around 5pm I remembered that I had left my TV on so I asked a police officer
posted outside our entrance to escort me into my flat so I could turn it off. I then
came back out and I was sitting with everyone in the foyer for several hours, none of
us knew what we were supposed to do.
24. At around 9pm or 9:30pm, the police officers posted outside our entrance told us that
we could go back into our flats.
25. I went back into the flat and stayed there that night. I have a clear view of the East
side of the Tower from my living room window. I remember that it was all black but
there were still pockets of red. You could see the fire was still burning. It was spooky
I found it quite scary. I didn't want to watch it but couldn't help myself. I can't tell
you when the fire stopped burning building and it was difficult to look at it.
Accommodation
26. I stayed in my flat for two or three days after the fire. I went to the Westway Sports
Centre on the 15th of June. Everyone in the community at this point knew that's where
you went for information. I was appointed a Key Worker and was advised that I could
move to a hotel if I wanted to. I wanted to stay in my flat, but for days I kept thinking
5Bernard Shaw
IVVS00000461_0005
about the fire and having restless nights. I couldn't take it anymore so I went to the
Key Worker on 27th June, who placed me in a hotel. There is more I want to say about
this but I understand that I will get the opportunity in Phase 2 of the Inquiry.
27. I found it very difficult being stuck in a hotel, I found it intrusive, but I was trying to
make the most of a bad situation. It was difficult not having my own space and I
found it very difficult not being able to cook.
28. For a long time I was hoping that I'd be placed in accommodation so that I wouldn't
have to go back to my flat, but I began to realise that this was probably going to be
unlikely. The Council would probably place me somewhere far outside of the
community or in a studio flat. I decided to move back to Testerton Walk. I moved
back on the 25th March 2018.
29. To this day Testerton Walk still doesn't have gas, I'm still eating take-aways because
I can't cook my own food.
Impact
30. Up to this day, I'm still having flashbacks of people shouting for help.
31. There people who I knew who died in the Tower that night, some of who were my
friends who I had known for years. I find it difficult to discuss the people who lost
their lives in the Tower and how their deaths affected me.
32.
6Bernard Shaw
IVVS00000461_0006
33. There is a lot I want to say about the impact the fire has had on the community but I
again understand that I will have the opportunity to do so in Phase 2.
Statement of Truth
I believe that the facts stated in this statement are true.
1 am willing for this statement to form part of the evidence before the Inquiry and for it to be
published on the Inquiry's website.
Signed:
Dated: this 30th day of May 2018
7Bernard Shaw
IVVS00000461_0007
top related