A senior technician responsible for safety tests on combustible insulation used on Grenfell Tower had “a serious drug habit” and fell asleep at work, the inquiry into the disaster has heard. Kingspan knew Ivor Meredith, a technical manager, used drugs from 2010 when his landlord reported him, the inquiry heard, but the problem was “brushed off” until he was sacked in 2015. Meredith held a pivotal role helping his employer sell its K-15 Kooltherm phenolic foam insulation as suitable for use on high-rise buildings by managing testing and certification. He told the inquiry that even though the plastic-based insulation foam burned in tests, several of which it failed, the company claimed it had limited combustibility and sold it for use on at least 240 towers in the UK. It was used on Grenfell alongside Celotex, another foam insulation. Meredith admitted he became “embroiled in a deliberate and calculated deceit by Kingspan” over the use of test results and the inquiry heard how he had to “fabricate a story” to maintain the foam panels were safe to use. He complained to his boss: “We are stretching the truth.” His drug problem emerged in 2010, when his landlord emailed Kingspan saying he “has quite a serious drug habit”, the inquiry heard. Meredith said he was “a functioning addict” at the time but the report was “brushed off as a bit of a joke … by them [Kingspan] and by me”. He went on to help Kingspan send letters of assurance on hundreds of projects, stating its product was suitable despite lacking solid test evidence, the inquiry heard. It was put to him by counsel to the inquiry, Kate Grange QC, that “as a result of being tasked with defending Kingspan’s position you knowingly misled a number of professionals about K15’s performance in fire”. He replied: “We followed the strategy that was outlined … yes.” Competition grew in 2014 when Celotex entered the market. Grange asked Meredith: “You knew that neither Celotex RS5000 nor Kingspan K15 should be used on buildings above 18 metres didn’t you?” “I knew there we had serious holes in our information, yes,” he said. “I tried to do my best to sit on my thoughts … It was all a major headache. It was more than a major headache: it was a nightmare.” Notes of a meeting to address problems with his work in February 2015 reported he was perspiring a lot and was “exceptionally tired”. He was eventually dismissed but in a meeting with senior management, Meredith said: “It’s been known to the business I think that I have always had a drug problem. Obviously there were a number of times people have joked with me, when I have been going to Amsterdam, with work saying keep away from those ‘space cakes’. “Obviously I am a bit of a DJ and a raver so people know this sort of culture mixes with drugs ... I am surprised that nobody thought that my part-time hobby and lifestyle had taken a turn for the worse 18-months ago.” He said his work had “gone completely down the tubes, I couldn’t keep to any deadlines, I couldn’t write coherently”. Kingspan has previously apologised for “process shortcomings during the period of 2005 to 2014” including that “certain statements made in K15 product literature and advice provided to customers, were not sufficiently clear or emphatic in explaining the [testing] limitations”. It told the inquiry it did not know K15 was to be used on Grenfell and that the building regulations at the time permitted its use on tall buildings as long as the overall cladding system was compliant. The inquiry continues.