NEWS – “without comment”
BREAKING NEWS:
Scotland Yard condemned for ‘institutional corruption’ in long-awaited report into murder of Daniel Morgan
Mail Online
Tuesday, Jun 15th 2021
By Martin Robinson, Chief Reporter and Mark Duell for MailOnline
Scotland Yard is condemned for ‘systemic failings’ and ‘institutional corruption’ by long-awaited report into axe murder of private investigator Daniel Morgan outside pub in 1987
Met Police slammed in damning report into the handling of a murder probe
Police misled MPs over the 1987 murder of private detective Daniel Morgan
Mr Morgan’s brother Alastair says the report reveals ‘institutional corruption’
Met’s many blunders means that it is now ‘unlikely’ anyone will be prosecuted
Scotland Yard was today condemned for ‘systemic failings’ including widespread ‘institutional corruption’ following a devastating review into one of its longest-running cold cases involving the murder of a private investigator 34 years ago.
Daniel Morgan was killed with an axe to the head in the car park of the Golden Lion pub in Sydenham, south-east London, on March 10 1987.
Despite five police inquiries and an inquest, no-one has been brought to justice over the father-of-two’s death, with the Metropolitan Police admitting corruption had hampered the original murder investigation.
Baroness Nuala O’Loan’s report – which has cost the taxpayer £16million since being set up nearly eight years ago – found the force placed its reputation ‘above the need for accountability and transparency’ and showed a ‘lack of candour’ to the victim’s family.
And Scotland Yard’s first objective was to “protect itself” for failing to acknowledge its many failings since Daniel Morgan’s murder, Baroness O’Loan said.
Bungled police investigations ‘compounded the suffering and trauma’ of Daniel Morgan’s family in the decades after he was killed with an axe, she said.
And the Met owe Daniel Morgan’s family, and the public, an apology for not confronting its systemic failings and those of individual officers, the panel’s report found.
And in more grief for Daniel’s family, the report concluded that it is now ‘most unlikely’ there will be a successful prosecution for Daniel Morgan’s murder because of the ‘multiple police failings over many years, the death of witnesses and the passage of time’.
The Metropolitan Police was also condemned for its culture which ‘still exists that inhibits both organisational and individual accountability’ in the 1,251-page report into the murder.
His brother Alastair Morgan has campaigned for decades for justice for his brother Daniel, who was killed with an axe in the car park of the Golden Lion pub in Sydenham, south-east London, on March 10 1987
Speaking in May, Alastair Morgan told the PA news agency in words published today: ‘I’m hoping to see a conclusion of institutionalised corruption.
‘There’s been some very bad policing going on there. And not just at the beginning – it went on and on and on in one way or another.
Despite five police inquiries and an inquest, no-one has been brought to justice over the father-of-two’s death, with the Metropolitan Police admitting corruption had hampered the original murder investigation
Despite five police inquiries and an inquest, no-one has been brought to justice over the father-of-two’s death, with the Metropolitan Police admitting corruption had hampered the original murder investigation
‘In the current situation I think it’s extraordinarily unlikely that anyone will ever be convicted of the murder because of the mess that has been made en route.
‘Nor do I believe that any of the police officers who were involved in discreditable activity or activity that is criticised by the panel will face any disciplinary or criminal action.
‘But I just hope that this situation, this kind of injustice, will be highlighted by the panel.’
The publication follows a furious row between the Home Office, Independent Panel and Mr Morgan’s family over its release, which was originally due to take place in May.
After eight years in the making, the Home Office said that it may need to redact parts of the document on national security or human rights grounds.
But the panel said it had already worked with lawyers and security experts from the Metropolitan Police, calling the last-minute intervention ‘unnecessary’ and ‘not consistent with the panel’s independence’.
Mr Morgan’s family said the move was a ‘kick in the teeth’, and called on Home Secretary Priti Patel to consider the distress the delay caused them.
An agreement was eventually reached that a small Home Office team could read the report in advance, and last week it was confirmed that the full, unredacted report would be published.
For those interested, a BBC generated Case Timeline will be available at WAPI NEWS (https://wapi.org/news)
Users of Professional Investigative Services including members of the public, legal profession, business and corporate clients, are able to select a credible Professional Investigator who is recognized as a “professional” and as such is a member of an established and approved professional association such as The World Association of Professional Investigators (WAPI).