IN THE MATTER OF THE INQUIRY

STATEMENT OF JACQUELINE HAY1NES

Preamble 1. I make this statement from my own personal knowledge and from information that I have been told by others. Where the information does not come from my own personal knowledge, I make this clear below.

2. I make this statement as a resident of the Lancaster West Estate, which comprises Grenfell Tower, Grenfell Walk, Hurstway Walk, Testerton Walk and Barandon Walk.

3. In this statement, I set out my experience of being a resident on the Lancaster West Estate prior to the fire at Grenfell Tower. I also provide evidence relating to the events of 14 June 2017 and the days that followed.

4. I have not yet provided a statement to the police about what happened on the night of the fire. I have, however, done several interviews with various television companies. I did an interview with an Italian news channel in the early hours of 14 June 2017, describing what I had witnessed. I also provided an account to BBC Live at lunchtime on 15 June 2017 describing what I had seen on the night ofthe fire. Several days later, I did an interview with Sky News.I may have commented on the lack ofcare that I believe was afforded to residents on the estate by the Council.

5. I have been a resident at iHurstway Walk, since I was'years old. In about 1996, I moved away from the area to and returned to live in EHurstway Walk in February 2015, after the death of my father. However, I continued to visit the estate regularly to visit and care for my parents.

6. As I had been living on the Lancaster West Estate since the 1970's, I knew a number of Grenfell Tower residents by name. I had known a man called Steve, whose surname I believe to have been

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IWS00000127_0001 Power, since I was about 10 or 11 years of age. He was a few years older than me. Whenever I saw him on the estate, I would chat to him. I understand that Steve died in the fire at Grenfell Tower. I had also known a man named Moses since I was young. Back then, he seemed much older than me. If I saw him, I would say, 'hi' and ask him how he was. He also died in the fire. My daughter lost one of her friends in the fire. I think that her friend's name was Jessica. They knew each other from the youth club that they attended close to the estate. I remain friends with a lady who I know as Carmen, who was a close friend to my mother. They had arrived in the UK from at around the same time and struck up a friendship. I knew and continue to know her children, Carol and Yvonne Harris. Carmen survived the fire.

7. Although I no longer lived in the Lancaster West Estate between 1996 and February 2015, I continued to visit the area regularly, to care for my father and my mother who were unwell. When my father died in 2012, he left the property to me and my 2 brothers, Mark Haynes and Christopher Haynes, and I subsequently took up occupation of MHurstway Walk,together with my daughter, (D.O.B i and Mark who was already living there.

8. I make this statement because I was a resident of Hurstway Walk at the time of the fire and witnessed the events that unfolded at Grenfell Tower on 14 June 2017 and the days that followed. I have witnessed the devastation caused to my community as a result of the fire. As someone who grew up on the estate, my knowledge and connection to the community and the environment means that I have been impacted deeply by the fire and have a deep sense of the devastation that it has caused.

Personal background 9. I was born on l and am nowI years of age.

10. I have a daughter, (D.O.B1M). She is now Iyears old.

1 1. 1 have a brother, Mark Haynes(D.O.B MI,who lives with me and my daughter.

12. I also have a brother, Christopher Haynes, who islyears of age and a sister, Karen Williams, who is'years of age,

13. As I make this statement in April 2018, I continue to be a resident atiHurstway Walk.

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IWS00000127_0002 EHurst-way Walk 14. I have lived at•Hurstway Walk since I was'years old, together with my mother, father and 2 brothers. My mother passed away in 2001 and my father in 2012.

15. My parents had been leaseholders of the property and, after my father's death, Chris, Mark and I inherited the property. I moved back into the property in February 2015 together with my daughter. We lived there with Mark

16. As leaseholders we were left to deal with our own problems in relation to the property and there was not a lot we were entitled to in terms of support from RBKC. I was never quite sure how much of a service we were entitled to from them. If there were any problems, we dealt with them ourselves. Having said, that, however, I do remember a time when there was a problem with a leak from the roof of Hurstway Walk. I made a complaint about it which the Chief Executive Officer accepted. We had no electricity, damage to our walls and carpet and no offers of alternative accommodation or remedy to fix the problem. To date,the wall and carpet remain damaged and we are at a loss as to how to take the compensation process forward. We have not been able to follow up on our complaint or receive compensation as a result ofthe fire at Grenfell Tower.

17. In relation to Grenfell Tower, Hurstway Walk is not far from Latimer Road Station and is on the same side as the station. The station is in front of Hurstway Walk and the Academy is on the other side of the estate. Unlike Grenfell Tower, the walkways are small tower blocks which sit horizontally on their sides, I believe, to preserve the green spaces. There are green spaces between Testeron and Hurstway Walk and again between Testerton and Barrandon Walk, the Walkways, and there is nothing in front of the Walkways which obscures our view of Grenfell Tower.

18.•Hurstway Walk is a ground floor flat with 3 bedrooms, a kitchen, living room, toilet and bathroom. Above the ground floor of the building, there are 2 further floors of flats. If you come out of my flat and through the Walkway you can see Grenfell Tower. There are flats either side of me and above.

19. In the 1970's the Lancaster West Estate provided easy access between the walkway properties and Grenfell Tower. However, in the 1980's there was a big crime reduction initiative which limited access between the finger blocks and Grenfell Tower. It was possible to access the whole estate without any barriers. The idea was to prevent people who commit crime from easily running through

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IWS00000127_0003 the estate to escape from the police. When I was a child in the 1970's, residents on the estate could access the Tower easily from the finger-blocks but this is no longer the case.

20. Before the fire, I worked as a ofthe estate.

Because of this I am very well known within the Lancaster West Estate and . People see me as an enabler; someone who is there to offer support.

The Refurbishment of Grenfell Tower 21. I believe that refurbishments started in 2015 and ended in early 2016. By that time, I was living in the area again after the death of my father. I did not get involved in the renovations or the challenges to it.

22. I knew that Grenfell Action Group's view was that the Tower should not be refurbished and that many of the residents were concerned about it. I knew that people were worried about the refurbishments, because I had heard peoples' conversations about it and had read tweets. In our view, the Tower was built to last; it was rock solid. We liked the Tower and the way that it stood out from other tower blocks. We did not think that the outside of the building needed to be refurbished at all and thought that the area was being gentrified, purely for aesthetic reasons. We were concerned about the cladding and the fact that there was no consultation from RBKC about it. It was clear that RBKC did not have our best interests at heart and that the residents of the estate did not want it. I knew ofthe Chair ofthe Grenfell Action Group at that time, a man called Ed. Joe Delaney was also on the Grenfell Action Group and I knew him.

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IWS00000127_0004 23. Historically the TMO (Tenant Management Organisation) have taken shortcuts and provided a shabby service to the estate. I know this as people were consistently complaining about their repairs. There was nothing anyone could do about the service and we just accepted that it was poor because we had no power to change it. This made me and other residents feel as though the Council had no care or concern about us.

Fire Safety 24. 1 do not know whether the residents of Grenfell Tower were ever told of what to do in the event of a fire. However, I do know from speaking to residents on the estate before the fire, that many of them found it difficult to hold the TMO to account when they did have concerns about their properties. People spoke about feeling neglected because the TMO regularly failed to respond to their complaints. They seemed to not care about how residents were living and did not face up to their duty to provide quality housing or services. They appeared to be totally unaccountable in that regard and there was nobody we could go to who would be able to do anything about it.

25. As a resident of Hurstway Walk, I do not recall receiving any information from anybody about fire safety until after the fire.

26. I am unable to comment on whether there were any sprinklers in Grenfell Tower as I have not been inside the building in the last 5 or 6 years. As a result of a police initiative in the 1980's, it was difficult to access the Tower if you were not actually a resident. You can'tjust walk into the Tower — you need a key. The only time I went there was to the TMO office which was on the ground floor ofthe Tower.

27. I do not know about fire alarms or smoke alarms in the Tower.

28. I do not know anything about the supply of electricity or gas to the Tower or the nature of any renovations related to the supply of electricity or gas.

14 June 2017 29. At around midnight or so on 14 June 2017, my daughter was asleep in bed and I was at home in the living room going through my mail and using my laptop. My brother came in at around 12.30 am and he said to me,'There's afire in the Tower, Jack.' I was not overly concerned when I heard that there was a fire because over the last 40 years there have been fires in the Tower before. I went out

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IWS00000127_0005 of my flat and walked towards the bin chute. I could see the Tower from there, not the bottom, but most of it. I could see a fire on the outside ofthe Tower, on the side facing the station. The flames were isolated to a corner part of the Tower. It looked serious but I never thought that it could not have been contained. I thought that it was strange because, in the past, when I have seen fires in flats in the Tower, there has never to my knowledge been evidence of a fire on the outside of the building. This time, though, I could see an actual fire on the exterior. The flames were orangey - yellow and there was a black smoke.

30. I went outside to look at it more closely, towards the Latimer Road Station side. Mark said to me, 'Ifyou're going to stay out there, take your keys because I'm offto bed.' Other people ran out and stood watching too. I remember thinking that the fire was patchy; it was not normal. There was a bit at the bottom and a bit in the middle going up. I thought that the fire was burning in a strange way. The other side ofthe Tower was not burning.

31. I then went onto the ramp outside ofthe walkway which gives you a direct view ofthe Tower. The fire was creeping all around. It started to go up like a piece ofpaper. I remember thinking to myself, 'This is not normal. This is not how buildings burn'. It did not make sense to me. The way in which it was burning was unexpected. It went against everything I knew or had seen about fires in buildings. At first the fire was creeping around the building and then, at one point, it suddenly went up

32. As I looked up at the Tower, I could see people at their windows, using the lights from their mobile phones to draw attention to themselves. I could hear screaming. I could see a female and I do not know if they were her children, but there were other people with her, 2 or 3. She was frantically flashing her phone, SOS style. There were others in their windows and I knew they were desperate but could not hear what they were shouting. They were on various floors, perhaps every floor had somebody. Some were coming and going intermittently. Some, however, stayed at their windows.

33. When I went to the Latimer Road Station, I saw people running out oftheir homes from the Tower in their dressing gowns. The police were blocking the road at Latimer Road station. I saw a police officer and people were running to him for help with where to go. I called the Council and said, `I'mfrom Lancaster West. Have you seen what's going on?' I spoke to a lady who said,'Yes. We're watching it on the news.' I told her that we needed a key to open up the community centre so that residents from the Tower could be evacuated and placed somewhere. I left my number with her.

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IWS00000127_0006 She called me back. I was told that she did not have a key. I could not believe it. I put the phone down because the Council could not help. I said to the policeman, '1 don 't know why I'm calling them in this situation, If!had wanted them tofi x my tap, they would have made melee! like jumping offa bridge, so why on earth would!think they can help now ... ?'

34. At one point, I was standing with one of Steve's close friends, Sammy. He was on the phone to Steve. He was saying, 'Just come out. It's not worth it.'

35 I saw 2 residents of Grenfell Tower jumping out of their windows to escape the fire at different times. Both were men. The first jumped in a controlled way and the second flew out. He was from a lower floor to the first. I think that they must have been from the 9th to 12th floor but I can't be sure. I remember tapping the person standing next to me, my neighbour, Judy, and saying,'Imagine being so desperate that you have to take a chance atjumping rather than burning to death. They are desperate!'

36. I kept saying,'We have to do something! We cannotjust watch!' People around me said, 'There's nothing you can do.' And I thought,'We cannotjust watch people die like this.' I thought, Tut, there's always something I can do'. I have never been so helpless. There was nothing I could do. For the first time, I knew there really was nothing that I could do.

37. After about 1.00 am, there was loads of smoke at the top of the building which travelled across. It was like a cloud, like Hiroshima. Smoke was spiralling round. It did not smell strange for a fire, although I didn't really think about the smell or about any noises it was making. That was just because I felt a numbness because ofthe chaos going on all around me.

38. The police seemed to arrive fairly early on. They were blocking off the road by Latimer Road to stop people coming in to that part of the area and to stop traffic coming in to Bramley Road and Whitchurch Road. They were cordoned off.

39. At the bottom of the Tower are garages for residents' cars. As the police were blocking off the road, I went through the garages to the base ofthe Tower at around 1.30 am or 2.00 am. By now, there were what looked like about 100 firemen and there seemed to be blue flashing lights everywhere. It looked like an army of firemen. They were lined up in military fashion and appeared

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IWS00000127_0007 to be doing some sort of mantra. They were full of adrenaline but not actually doing anything to combat the fire. I saw fire engines. I saw one engine on Grenfell Road, I think.

40. The Lancaster West Estate has a landscaping issue as the roads are tiny. Many ofthe residents park along the roads and so, for a big vehicle such as a fire engine to get through, it would be difficult. The roads are winding. The fire engines had to park at the top of either end of Whitchurch Road and the fire fighters had to make their way on foot to the Tower. There was a fire engine right under the Tower. They could not get down Whitchurch Road because the road is very narrow and windy.

41 . I only saw one fire engine which had managed to get through. It was right at the base of the Tower where the garages are.

42. When I was at the base ofthe Tower at around 2.00 am,a fire fighter came round the corner, I think, to go to the toilet, and I said to him,'You 're not doing anything.' He looked at me helplessly and I said, 'You can't, can you?' He shrugged again, helplessly, and then said,'Madam, you'refar too close.' I told him that the residents coming out ofthe Tower could come though the garages up to Hurstway Walk for help and support when they came out ofthe Tower, if need be. He told me that anybody coming out ofthe Tower would be going straight to hospital.

43. I could see that there was an ambulance at the bottom of the Tower. I could see its blue flashing lights. I noticed people coining out of the Tower in dressing gowns. They were directed by ambulance workers and firemen to ambulances.

44. When I went back up through the garages to the lane entrance outside of my walkway, I could see a hose being used to put out the fire. I could not actually see the fire fighters as I was a distance away. The hose was pathetic as it simply couldn't extend far enough to deal with the fire. There was a jet stream of water and it was not effective at all. People in the crowd questioned why helicopters could not be used to fight the fire but I said that I didn't think that the Fire Brigade used them in this country. The situation felt hopeless.

45. There were loads of people in the crowd by this point. To begin with, there had been about 15-20 people but now, there were hundreds of people. There were people from the flats and from neighbouring roads.

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IWS00000127_0008 46. I walked back up from the garages to the walkway past a crowd of people. I swore and said,'They're just going to let itfucking burn. All we can do is pray.' I could hear people in the Tower screaming and I turned to look at it. It was torture standing there, just watching and not being able to help but I felt too guilty to walk away.

47. People in the crowd were recording the Tower as it burned using their mobile phones. I remember thinking,'What a gratuitous thing to do?' At the time, it seemed like such a gross thing to do but now I can see how valuable the footage could potentially be.

48. The outside of the Tower was burning in an absolutely crazy way and I didn't know whether the Tower itself would burn down. People were saying, 'Will the Tower burn down? I didn't know what to expect. Because ofthe madness I did not know what to expect. By about 5 am when it was still dark,the flames were purple and blue and an autumn brown. I remember saying,'Look at those mad colours.' I had never seen purple before in a fire.

49. The people that I had seen standing at their windows with the torches on from their mobile phones, had disappeared from view.

50. I stayed outside all morning and by 7.00 am the fire was still raging. By this point the area was swarming with press. I went into my flat to tell my daughter, to get ready for school in a dam This was my default position and I was on auto-pilot. I then went outside again to watch the fire. I did everything in a daze. After saying goodbye to she phoned me distressed 30 minutes later, saying that she could not get out of Latimer Road as it had been blocked off. She had exams that morning and was anxious to get to school. After explaining this to the police, was allowed through the cordon with me so that she could make her way to school I walked her to the bus stop at and put her on

51 At some point during the day, I think around lunchtime, I tried to return to my flat to get my cigarettes and found that the police had locked me, and the other residents from Hurstway Walk, out. When we asked why we had been locked out, we were told that it was for 'safety purposes.' The main door was guarded by a police officer.

52. I think later in the afternoon on 14 June 2017, St. Clement's Church, which is the church for the estate, opened its doors and invited people in. They gave us mobile phone chargers and 'refugee

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I WS00000127_0009 packs' made up of a sandwich a bottle of water and a power bar. I was in complete shock. Children were running around and it was chaos. There was no safeguarding. Parents were stunned and sitting around in a daze.

53. I understand that my mother's friend, Carmen, survived the fire and is okay.

54. People were given the option of going to a hotel. Some were traumatised and said they could not stay on the estate, but I said,'I'm notgoing anywhere. lfevvybody leaves, who's going tofix this?'

55. For the 3 weeks that followed the fire at Grenfell Tower, I was not able to stop the sound of the screaming in my head. I could just recall the victims' screams and then, suddenly, after about 3 weeks, the noise just stopped. I really felt as though as though I was living in a fairground, where the screaming from the rollercoaster is all around you. It was part of my internal environment.

56. I have felt unable to work since the fire,

57. I experienced difficulty sleeping in the two months or so after the fire. I kept thinking,'How can I sleep when people died in such a terrible way?' To this day, my sleep has been affected, and this avoidance sleeping pattern has become routine. I think that the fire has had an impact on me emotionally, but I don't really know how I should be feeling as the fire at Grenfell Tower is totally unprecedented. • I would rather put my energy into fixing my community. I feel as though we are not safe if we do not look after ourselves. I feel as though the Council failed in its duty to us.

58. I remain very concerned about toxicity levels. I am anxious that me, my family and other residents may be affected by any toxins that may have been released into the atmosphere as a result of the fire. On the night,some people were walking around with masks and had got them from somewhere. I have not had very much advice at all from the Council about what we can do if we are concerned about toxicity. I believe that I received a leaflet through my door from a community monitoring project advising that residents can see their GPs if they are worried about it, but other than that, I do not know of any drive to test residents to ensure that their health has not been affected by potential toxins in the air. When I tried to access toxicity tests for residents I was told by the NHS

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IWS00000127_0010 that we needed to be specific about what we wanted the tests for. As a lay person, this is an extremely challenging task which does not give us any real chance of accessing this test.

Other matters 59. I am happy to provide further information to the Inquiry should it be required.

60. I am willing to provide the footage that I have ofthe interviews that I gave to various news channels in the aftermath of the fire.

61. I confirm that lam willing for this statement to form part of the evidence before the Inquiry and to be published on the Inquiry's websitc.

Statement of Truth I confirm that the contents of this witness statement are true.

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