Hampshire Constabulary 'agreed to hide' Met Police failings on Daniel Morgan murder, report finds

An independent panel report today alleged ‘institutional corruption’ in the Metropolitan Police probe into the 1987 murder in south-east London.

There have been five police inquiries and an inquest but 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.

Today the Daniel Morgan Independent Panel’s report found evidence Hampshire police may have deliberately not fully investigated the death, and possible links to serving and former police officers.

The 1,200-page report also criticises the inclusion of a senior Met police officer on the Hampshire team.

The report said: ‘It did not pursue, to the fullest extent possible, evidence that serving or former police officers were involved in the murder of Daniel Morgan; had committed crimes not connected to the murder of Daniel Morgan; or had been guilty of disciplinary offences, whether or not connected to the murder of Daniel Morgan.

‘There is some evidence that this was deliberate conduct on the part of the Hampshire/Police Complaints Authority Investigation.’

The Hampshire probe claimed that the Met showed determination to bring those responsible to justice despite evidence to the contrary, the report said.

The panel concluded the Met’s main objective was to ‘protect itself’ for failing to acknowledge its many failings since Mr Morgan’s murder.

Its report added: ‘The Hampshire Constabulary, the Metropolitan Police and the Police Complaints Authority agreed, whether tacitly or expressly, to hide from the family of Daniel Morgan and from the public in general, the fact that it had evidence that the original Metropolitan Police investigation into the murder of Daniel Morgan had been ineffective, and in many respects, incompetent, and that there was important information which required further investigation.’

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Home secretary Priti Patel described the Daniel Morgan case as ‘one of the most devastating episodes in the history of the Metropolitan Police’.

She said: ‘Police corruption is a betrayal of everything policing stands for in this country. It erodes public confidence in our entire criminal justice system.

‘It undermines democracy and civilised society.

‘We cannot ignore the findings of this report. Its recommendations are wide ranging and far reaching across aspects of policing, conduct, culture and transparency in public institutions.’

The family’s solicitor, Raju Bhatt, added: ‘You heard from the panel that the institutionalised corruption that they found is a current problem in the present tense.

‘The current leadership in the Met has to take responsibility for that continuing.’

Baroness Nuala O’Loan, chairwoman of the Daniel Morgan Independent Panel, said: ‘The family of Daniel Morgan has suffered grievously as a consequence of the failure to bring his murderer or murderers to justice, the unwarranted assurances which they were given, the misinformation which was put into the public domain, and the denial of the failings in investigation, including failing to acknowledge professional incompetence, individuals’ venal behaviour, and managerial and organisational failures.

‘We believe that concealing or denying failings for the sake of an organisation’s public image is dishonesty on the part of the organisation for reputational benefit, and constitutes a form of institutional corruption.’

Hampshire Constabulary has been contacted by The News for comment.

The Metropolitan Police said in a statement: ‘We deeply regret our failure to bring those who murdered Daniel Morgan to justice.’

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

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