The Metropolitan Constabulary has identified a third Docklands warehouse bearing a falsified fire safety certificate, broadening an investigation that began with the safety audit launched on Friday and now extends well beyond any single property owner.

The latest warehouse, located on Old Harbour Road approximately three hundred metres from the Greystone Wharf fire site, was assessed by audit teams on Sunday. Its fire certificate, dated August 2024, bore the signature of Inspector Raymond Duxbury — who retired from the Fire Marshal’s Office in March 2022.

Duxbury, reached at his home in Thornhill on Monday morning, was unequivocal. “I retired nearly four years ago. I have never set foot in that building. Whoever signed that document, it was not me.”

He is the second inspector whose name has appeared on fraudulent certificates. The first — whose name has not been publicly disclosed — is a serving officer who was not assigned to the Docklands during the dates listed on the forged documents at Chandler’s Row and Pilot’s Alley. Both sets of forgeries were uncovered during Saturday’s audit.

A Pattern Emerges

The three warehouses — Chandler’s Row, Pilot’s Alley, and now Old Harbour Road — share several characteristics. All are vacant commercial properties in the Docklands waterfront district. All held fire certificates dated between 2023 and 2025. All certificates bore signatures that, upon investigation, could not have been genuine.

Senior Inspector Callum Frye, who leads the Greystone Wharf arson investigation and is now coordinating with the audit team, confirmed Monday that a forensic handwriting specialist has been retained to examine the documents.

“We are treating this as a coordinated scheme,” Frye said in a brief statement. “The similarity in method across three separate properties suggests a common origin.”

Thirty-seven of the seventy-two properties identified for audit have now been assessed. In addition to the three falsified certificates, teams have documented five lapsed fire safety certificates, two properties with no documentation whatsoever, and three with evidence of unauthorised habitation. The audit is expected to continue through mid-March.

Fire Marshal Edwin Hale, who is coordinating the inspection teams, declined to speculate on the source of the forgeries. “The audit’s purpose is to establish the state of fire safety compliance across the Docklands. Where criminality is discovered, it is referred to the Constabulary. That process is working.”

Ashcroft Connection Unclear

The Chandler’s Row and Pilot’s Alley properties are both owned by the Ashcroft Property Group. The Old Harbour Road warehouse is owned by a separate entity — Greystone Shipping & Haulage — raising questions about whether the forgery scheme extends beyond Ashcroft’s portfolio.

Edmond Crayle, solicitor for Gerald Ashcroft, issued a statement Monday afternoon: “My client has no knowledge of any fraudulent documentation regarding any property in his portfolio. Mr. Ashcroft relied, as any reasonable property owner would, on the professional assessments provided by qualified inspectors. If those assessments were themselves fraudulent, my client is a victim of that fraud, not its author.”

The statement represents a subtle but significant shift in Ashcroft’s legal posture — from blanket denial to a specific claim of victimhood that distances the property owner from whoever procured the false certificates.

Greystone Shipping & Haulage did not respond to requests for comment. Companies Registry records show the firm was incorporated in 2019 with a registered address on Harbourfront Parade. Its sole listed director is one Vincent Drury, whose name does not appear in connection with any other Docklands properties currently under audit.

The Wider Question

For residents and workers in the Docklands, the emerging picture is deeply unsettling. If fire safety certificates across the waterfront district can be fabricated with apparent impunity, the implications extend far beyond vacant warehouses.

Councilwoman Ida Pryce, who proposed the audit following the Greystone Wharf arson, said Monday: “What we are discovering is exactly why this audit was necessary. Three properties with forged safety documents in a single district. How many more? The public deserves to know that every building where people work and live meets basic safety standards.”

Councilman Aldric Voss, who opposed the audit on procedural grounds, was notably silent on Monday — occupied, perhaps, by the more immediate demands of co-chairing the Copper Review Commission.

The Constabulary has appealed for any current or former fire inspectors who believe their names may have been used on fraudulent documents to come forward. A dedicated line has been established at Foundry Row headquarters.

The audit continues Tuesday. Forty-two days remain until the commission established to decide the tramway’s future delivers its verdict. In the Docklands, both clocks are ticking.