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Daniel Morgan: Met Police accused of corruption in report | Daniel Morgan: Met Police accused of corruption in report |
(32 minutes later) | |
Daniel Morgan was found dead in a pub car park in 1987 | Daniel Morgan was found dead in a pub car park in 1987 |
The Met Police was institutionally corrupt in the way it concealed or denied failings over the unsolved murder of Daniel Morgan, a report says. | |
The force's first objective was to "protect itself" for not acknowledging its failures since the 1987 murder of the private investigator, chair of an independent panel Baroness O'Loan said. | |
Mr Morgan's family and the public are owed an apology, the report concluded. | |
He was killed with an axe in the car park of a pub in south-east London. | He was killed with an axe in the car park of a pub in south-east London. |
Despite five police inquiries and an inquest, no-one has been brought to justice over the father of two's killing, with the Metropolitan Police admitting corruption had hampered the original murder investigation. | |
'Venal behaviour' | |
The panel found the family of Mr Morgan "suffered grievously" as a consequence of the failure to achieve justice for them. | |
It criticised the "unwarranted assurances" they were given, the misinformation put into the public domain, and a failure "to acknowledge professional competence, individuals' venal behaviour, and managerial and organisational failures". | |
"The Metropolitan Police also repeatedly failed to take a fresh, thorough and critical look at past failings," the report said. | |
"Concealing or denying failings, for the sake of the organisation's public image, is dishonesty on the part of the organisation for reputational benefit and constitutes a form of institutional corruption." | |
Timeline: Daniel Morgan axe murder | Timeline: Daniel Morgan axe murder |
In a statement through their lawyer, Mr Morgan's family said: "We welcome the recognition that we - and the public at large - have been failed over the decades by a culture of corruption and cover-up in the Metropolitan Police, an institutionalised corruption that has permeated successive regimes in the Metropolitan Police and beyond to this day." | |
Home Secretary Priti Patel told the Commons the report was "deeply alarming" and revealed a "litany of mistakes" by the Met Police. | Home Secretary Priti Patel told the Commons the report was "deeply alarming" and revealed a "litany of mistakes" by the Met Police. |
She said the behaviour of the force "irreparably damaged the chances of successful prosecution". | She said the behaviour of the force "irreparably damaged the chances of successful prosecution". |
Mr Morgan, from Llanfrechfa near Cwmbran in south Wales, died in the car park of the Golden Lion pub in Sydenham on 10 March 1987. | Mr Morgan, from Llanfrechfa near Cwmbran in south Wales, died in the car park of the Golden Lion pub in Sydenham on 10 March 1987. |
Panel members Nuala O'Loan, Silvia Casale and Samuel Pollock read out a statement following the publication the report | |
Other failures criticised by the panel include procedural errors - the crime scene was not searched - and forensic work was of so poor a standard it was described by a senior officer in the second investigation as "pathetic". | |
"In many respects that investigation was not compliant with the policies and procedures in force at the time," the report says. | "In many respects that investigation was not compliant with the policies and procedures in force at the time," the report says. |
"From the beginning, there were allegations that police officers were involved in the murder, and that corruption by police officers played a part in protecting the murderer(s) from being brought to justice." | "From the beginning, there were allegations that police officers were involved in the murder, and that corruption by police officers played a part in protecting the murderer(s) from being brought to justice." |
The panel received evidence from serving and retired officers that some officers who tried to report wrongdoing by other officers had been "ostracised, transferred to a different unit, encouraged to resign, or have faced disciplinary proceedings". | |
The panel also considered the possible impact of conflicting loyalties between the obligations of police officers who were freemasons, and their professional policing. |