Daniel Morgan's family to receive £2m over Met's murder probe failings in one of British policing's biggest ever payouts
17 July 2023, 06:32
The Metropolitan Police will pay £2m to the family of Daniel Morgan over the private investigator's unsolved murder.
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It is one of the largest ever payouts by a British police force and the commissioner Sir Mark Rowley is also expected to make a public apology this week.
Mr Morgan was found in a pub car park in Sydenham, South East London, with an axe buried into his head in 1987.
His killer has never been found and in 2021 a panel found the Met repeatedly covered up its failures during the investigation.
The Met has now settled with Mr Morgan's relatives.
Sir Mark met with the family last week and apologised to them after the £2m settlement was finalised.
It is believed the payout is so big because of the scale of the failure during the investigation and the sheer amount of time the family has fought for answers.
However, Sir Mark has refused to admit the Met is institutionally corrupt.
The Times, which initially reported the fee, said the family is understood to be disappointed by that.
It is understood they said Sir Mark had been as defensive as Dame Cressida Dick, his predecessor who was Met commissioner when the 2021 report came out.
Read more: Sadiq Khan left 'speechless' after Daniel Morgan files found in locked safe
She had denied claims that herself and other top cops hampered the probes, and it was found she was responsible for delays in disclosures but acted in good faith because those disclosures involved sensitive material.
Despite £50m and multiple probes, nobody has been brought to justice and the panel said the family is unlikely to see a conviction.
The force was said to have covered up its mistakes to protect its reputation, having failed to pursue leads fully.
Officers did not properly record evidence or protect the crime scene, while documents vanished from Mr Morgan's office.
Some protected suspects and the panel branded the force institutionally corrupt. Later probes failed to examine claims of corruption.
Most recently, the Met had to issue an apology to the family after paperwork relating to Mr Morgan's case was found in a locked cupboard at Scotland Yard.
Some of the files should have been disclosed to the inquiry into his murder, Scotland Yard said.
LBC revealed in May that the documents were found in a safe at New Scotland Yard on the same floor and vicinity where senior officers sit.
The Met said it had written to his family and Baroness Nuala O'Loan, who chaired the Daniel Morgan Independent Panel, to explain what happened and apologise to the family after the files were found in a cupboard that had been locked "for years".
Four men were cleared of murder 12 years ago because of failures and the handling of a witness and later received a payout for malicious prosecution.
His family, including brother Alastair, continues to fight for answer.
