No justice for Daniel Morgan’s family: Met Police ‘unequivocally and unreservedly apologises’ and pays ‘six-figure sum’ to murdered man’s relatives over botched investigation ‘marred by a cycle of corruption, professional incompetence, and defensiveness’
- Daniel Morgan was found with an axe in his head in south east London in 1987
The Met has apologised to the family of murdered private detective Daniel Morgan and agreed to pay a six-figure after they were ‘repeatedly and inexcusably let down’ by the force’s botched investigation.
The out-of-court agreement, approved by London Mayor Sadiq Khan, will see the family receive a ‘significant’ payment after Sir Mark Rowley admitted admission of liability on the force’s behalf in respect of the conduct of his officers in response to the murder.
It comes two years after a bombshell official report into the case branded the force ‘institutionally corrupt’ and accused it of more than three decades of cover-ups and incompetence.
The £16million independent panel report in June 2021 found that Dame Cressida personally placed ‘hurdles’ in the way of the search for the truth about the axe killing of Mr Morgan in 1987.
The damning verdict found the capital’s police force was more interested in protecting its reputation than cracking what was dubbed the ‘most investigated unsolved murder in the history of the Metropolitan Police’.
Sir Mark Rowley, the Met’s Police Crime Commissioner apologised to the family of Daniel Morgan this morning
Mr Morgan was found with an axe in his head in south east London in 1987
The Met agreed to pay compensation to the Morgan family – led by the victim’s campaigning brother Alastair (pictured) – 18 months after they announced plans to sue the force
Sir Mark Rowley, the Met’s Police Crime Commissioner, said this morning that Mr Morgan’s family were given ’empty promises and false hope’ as a number of investigations failed and ‘the Metropolitan Police prioritised its reputation at the expense of transparency and effectiveness’.
He added: ‘This case has been marred by a cycle of corruption, professional incompetence, and defensiveness that has repeated itself over and over again. Daniel Morgan’s family were given empty promises and false hope as successive investigations failed and the Metropolitan Police prioritised its reputation at the expense of transparency and effectiveness.
‘No words can do justice to the pain and suffering that has been a feature of the family’s lives for more than three decades as they have fought for justice, a fight which no family should have to endure. Their tenacious campaigning has exposed multiple and systemic failings in this organisation.
‘I have met with the family and listened to vivid and moving accounts of the devastating impact those failings have had on their lives. They have explained how their trust in policing has been eroded. The personal commitment I made to tackling corruption in this organisation when I took over as Commissioner has never been stronger.’
The Met agreed to pay compensation to the Morgan family – led by the victim’s campaigning brother Alastair – 18 months after they announced plans to sue the force, alleging that the 30-year-long cover-up of corruption was continuing.
Despite the finding’s against former Met Commissioner Dame Cressida, the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime (Mopac) – the body that oversees the Met – decided she would not face disciplinary action.
