If the name Daniel Morgan sounds familiar to you, that may be because his murder is a case that has had the public’s attention in its grasp for the past 34 years. He was found murdered with an axe in his head back in 1987 in a pub car park in Sydenham, London. Now, over 3 decades later, an inquiry into his murder has identified serious instances of police corruption.

Daniel was a private investigator who carried out extensive work for the News of the World. Despite multiple investigations, arrests and a trial, a conviction was never made in this case. A report released earlier this year by an independent panel may have provided answers as to why.

The case of Daniel Morgan in 2021

The panel's intention was to shine a light on the circumstances of the murder, its background and its handling. In particular, the police involvement, the role played by police corruption in protecting those responsible, the failure to confront the corruption, the incidence of connections between private investigators, journalists at News of the World, and alleged corruption involved in the linkages between them.

The panel started work in 2013 and produced the report early this year. In explaining the length of time taken, the panel said they had not anticipated the significant difficulties and delays and did not receive final documentation from the Metropolitan Police until March 2021. 7 years on, the report has identified multiple failures, significant shortcomings and serious police corruption within the Metropolitan police in the handling of Daniel Morgan’s case.

Several recommendations were made in the report to address areas where there continue to be serious shortcomings in current policy and practice in policing. Included in them is the recommendation to ensure necessary resources are allocated to the task of tackling corrupt police behaviour.

Notably, a statutory duty of candour has also been suggested to be owed by all law enforcement agencies to those they serve. This recommendation is a huge step forward in making sure that public bodies are held to account. This cannot happen unless a duty of candour is enforced.

It has also been reported that the Metropolitan police owe the family of Daniel Morgan and the public an apology for not confronting its systematic failings, for the failings of individual officers and for its lack of candour to the members of the family.

Report describes Met police as "institutionally corrupt"

The police were described as being institutionally corrupt, and Cressida Dick, the police commissioner, was personally censured for obstructing the independent inquiry set up to review the murder.

Back in 2011, the police accepted that corrupt police officers had protected the killers and that the murder inquiry that had probably been "solvable" was undermined.

The delay in final documentation was the seven-year period that the police refused to provide access to the Holmes accounts to the panel. Holmes is an IT system used by the police for the investigation of major incidents, such as murder. Holmes stands for Home Office Large Major Enquiry System and helps an investigation to be organised and thorough. This was the obstruction caused by Dick, as she was the assistant commissioner who initially refused access. This level of corruption shows clear signs that the Metropolitan police were far more interested in protecting themselves.

Speaking on the corruption, the report reads:

"The Metropolitan police's culture of obfuscation and a lack of candour is unhealthy in any public service. Concealing or denying failings, for the sake of the organisation's image, is dishonesty on the part of the organisation for reputational benefit. In the panel's view this constitutes a form of institutional corruption".

The report criticised the police for the links to the News of the World, which was relevant due to the newspaper's link to the victim. "It is appropriate for the Panel to state that the demonstrated links between personnel at the highest levels of the Metropolitan police and people working for a news organisation linked to criminality associated with the murder of Daniel Morgan, are of serous and legitimate public concern."

The Home Secretary and the London mayor have both said Cressida Dick retains their full confidence. Priti Patel has requested Dick's response to the report and has asked Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary to look at the findings.

This kind of institutional police corruption must be stamped out. Unfortunately, it runs so deep that it will take a full and thorough inquiry to dismantle this corruption in an effective way. A statutory duty of candour must be enforced to ensure that what happened in the case of Daniel Morgan never happens again, and to protect future bereaved families from the prolonged pain of being deceived and lied to.

While we understand the challenges faced by law enforcement, it is clear that police misconduct, corruption and abuse of power is boundless. Whether it’s discriminating against and unfairly targeting people of colour with facial recognition software, or using dangerous tactics to restrain and control suspects, the need for a more careful, watchful eye over our police force is imperative, particularly with Boris Johnson’s plans to recruit an extra 20,000 police officers.