An expert witness appointed to the Grenfell Tower Inquiry after illegally claiming to be a registered architect has been fined £3,000 and told to pay a further £3,240 in costs and surcharges by Westminster magistrates.

John Priestley, of John Priestley Associates, was named as the Grenfell Inquiry’s architectrual expert witness in June but was sacked days later when it emerged that he was no longer registered with the Architects Registration Board despite describing himself as such on his company website.

The Grenfell Tower Inquiry also confirmed to BD at the time that Priestley had told it that he was a UK-registered architect before his appointment. He is, however, a RIBA chartered member and was on the Arb register until 2010.

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