Grenfell Tower fire survivor threatened council chief
A Grenfell Tower survivor told a council boss ‘I’m coming for you’ during a vigil to mark 100 days since the inferno.
Reis Morris, 28, followed Kim Taylor-Smith, the deputy leader of Kensington and Chelsea Council, and repeatedly said, ‘Look into my eyes,’ a court heard.
The unemployed father of one blocked Mr Taylor-Smith and used the front wheel of his bike to repeatedly bang into the councillor’s legs, warning him: ‘You have got eight weeks to sort this out, then I’m coming for you. I don’t care if I spend the rest of my life in prison.’
It is not known which floor of Grenfell Tower he lived on, but Morris, who lost a relative in the blaze in June, initially denied being at the vigil before pleading guilty at Westminster Magistrates’ Court to using threatening words or behaviour.
Reis Morris (left), 28, followed Kim Taylor-Smith (right), the deputy leader of Kensington and Chelsea Council, and repeatedly said, ‘Look into my eyes,’ a court heard. The unemployed father of one blocked Mr Taylor-Smith and used the front wheel of his bike to repeatedly bang into the councillor’s legs, saying 'I'm coming for you'
He was spared jail by a judge yesterday who gave him a 12-month community order involving 110 hours of unpaid work.
The court heard the councillor attended the candlelit vigil in a social club last month to mark 100 days since the blaze ripped through the 24-storey tower block in Kensington, West London, killing about 80 people.
Prosecutor Kate Shilton said: ‘Initially the atmosphere was calm, with people lighting candles and singing songs. Some started asking him to talk to the crowd.
‘He was very reluctant to do this, but felt extremely pressured by the crowd and took the microphone to say a few words. The crowd erupted into shouting and jeering, so he went back to where he had been standing.’
She added: ‘Mr Morris was standing astride a bike. He began barging Mr Taylor-Smith’s leg with the front wheel. It lasted for 60 seconds before Mr Taylor-Smith decided to leave the vigil.
‘He noticed Mr Morris on his left, he started walking next to him. Mr Morris kept saying “Look into my eyes” repeatedly. He was behaving very erratically and in an agitated state. He said, “You have got eight weeks to sort this out, then I’m coming for you, I don’t care if I spend the rest of my life in prison.” ’
Mr Taylor-Smith later told police he found the statement ‘chilling’ and that it had left him ‘very frightened’ to go about his duties.
Miss Shilton said Mr Taylor-Smith recognised Morris because he had acted in an ‘antagonising fashion’ at a previous meeting. Defence lawyer Robert Katz said Morris had ‘lost a close family member’. He added: ‘He is harbouring a lot of unresolved feelings of grief that follow from the disaster.’
Passing sentence, District Judge Sheena Bayne said: ‘This is clearly an unpleasant incident.
‘Everybody has enormous sympathy for anyone involved in the Grenfell Tower tragedy – it was an appalling incident. It is understandable that feelings are high but taking it out in the way I have heard about is unacceptable.’
Morris, who is now living with his mother in nearby Notting Hill, was ordered to pay £100 compensation to Mr Taylor-Smith and £85 court costs out of his benefits.
He was also ordered not to contact the councillor for a year.