Daniel Morgan: lessons 'must be learned' from Met Police investigation into unsolved murder

The actions of the Metropolitan Police "compounded the suffering and trauma" of Daniel Morgan's family, and the investigation's failures "must be learned", a government response to a report into the handling of the case has said.

Some of the issues highlighted in the report "should have been learned over the 36 years since Daniel’s murder" the policy paper said, adding that these had "been disregarded and thus mistakes were repeated".

Mr Morgan, a private detective from Monmouthshire, was killed with an axe in the car park of the Golden Lion pub in Sydenham on March 10 1987, and a string of unsuccessful investigations into his death have been mired with claims of corruption.

An independent panel set up to look into the case published a scathing report in June 2022 in which it accused the Met of “a form of institutional corruption” for concealing or denying failings over the unsolved murder.

Despite five police enquiries, the case remains one of the longest unsolved murder cases on Scotland Yard's books, and the force has admitted that the first inquiry into the killing was hampered by police corruption.

In May, it was revealed officers had found papers relating to the unsolved murder in a locked cabinet in New Scotland Yard.

Some of this material should have been disclosed to the Daniel Morgan Independent Panel (DMIP) which published its final report in June 2021, the police said at the time.

Morgan family representatives, Independent Panel chair Baroness Nuala O’Loan and the Police Inspectorate reviewed the material and found it would not have impacted the findings of its inspection, the Met said.

Assistant Commissioner Barbara Gray said: “We fully acknowledge how unacceptable and deeply regrettable it is that documents which should have been disclosed to the Daniel Morgan Independent Panel and the Police Inspectorate were not.

"I have apologised to the family of Daniel Morgan and to the Panel."

Responding to the report's findings on Thursday, the Home Office said: "The MPS and policing need to continue to improve as learning organisations. Allowing for organisational learning and reflective practice requires a commitment by policing leaders to really listen and pay regard to challenging views, even when they may call into question the integrity of an organisation."

The paper added: "The government must work with policing to prevent these events from ever being repeated. The findings of the Panel and the clear failures of the MPS in investigating Daniel’s murder will have a lasting impact on policing as a whole."

The Met said the service had "made substantial progress on implementing the recommendations and wider learning from the Daniel Morgan Independent Panel (DMIP) and two reports by the Police Inspectorate."

In a statement, the force said it was continuing to "improve how we investigate homicide, and how we identify misconduct and drive out corrupt officers."

Assistant Commissioner Gray said: "We are improving how we investigate homicide, identify misconduct and drive out corrupt officers.

"This includes embedding external scrutiny in legacy cases as well as improving risk management and vetting.

"We are on track to meet further recommendations by the Police Inspectorate.

"Overall, there is more to do but we hope Londoners are reassured by our progress.

"We cannot achieve this alone and are grateful for the support of the Home Office, the College of Policing and National Police Chiefs' Council.

"We regret that the murder of Daniel Morgan remains unsolved and remain committed to getting justice for his family."

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