Daniel John Morgan (3 November 1949 – 10 March 1987) was a British
private investigator
A private investigator (often abbreviated to PI and informally called a private eye), a private detective, or inquiry agent is a person who can be hired by individuals or groups to undertake investigatory law services. Private investigators of ...
who was murdered with an axe in a pub car park in
Sydenham, London
Sydenham () is a district of south-east London, England, which is shared between the London boroughs of London Borough of Lewisham, Lewisham, London Borough of Bromley, Bromley and London Borough of Southwark, Southwark. Prior to the creation of ...
, in 1987. Despite several
Metropolitan Police
The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS), formerly and still commonly known as the Metropolitan Police (and informally as the Met Police, the Met, Scotland Yard, or the Yard), is the territorial police force responsible for law enforcement and ...
investigations, arrests, and trial, the crime remains unsolved. An independent review into the handling of the investigation of Morgan's killing was published in 2021; it found that the Met Police had "a form of institutional corruption" which had concealed or denied failings in the case.
At the time of his death, Morgan worked for Southern Investigations, a company he had founded with his business partner
Jonathan Rees
Jonathan Rees is a British private investigator, and former partner of murdered private investigator Daniel Morgan.
Early life and career
Born in September 1954 in Doncaster, Yorkshire, Rees left school and joined the Merchant Navy, then became ...
. Rees was arrested in April 1987 on suspicion of murder along with Morgan's future replacement at Southern, Detective Sergeant Sid Fillery, and two brothers, Glenn and Garry Vian. All were released without charge. Over the next three decades, several additional police inquiries were conducted. In 2009 Rees, Fillery, the Vian Brothers and a builder, James Cook, appeared at the
Old Bailey
The Central Criminal Court of England and Wales, commonly referred to as the Old Bailey after the street on which it stands, is a criminal court building in central London, one of several that house the Crown Court of England and Wales. The s ...
charged with Morgan's murder. The trial collapsed in 2011 after evidence obtained from
supergrasses was deemed inadmissible by the court. Shortly after the case, the activities of Rees – as a private investigator – became the centre of allegations concerning the conduct of journalists at the now-defunct ''
News of the World
The ''News of the World'' was a weekly national Tabloid journalism#Red tops, red top Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published every Sunday in the United Kingdom from 1843 to 2011. It was at one time the world's highest-selling En ...
'' newspaper.
Morgan's unsolved murder has been described by
Jennette Arnold
Jennette Arnold, OBE is a Labour Co-op politician who served as chair of the London Assembly for five terms. From 2004 to 2021, Arnold represented the North East constituency, comprising the London Boroughs of Hackney, Islington and Waltham Fo ...
, a former
Labour Co-op
Labour and Co-operative Party (often abbreviated Labour Co-op; cy, Llafur a'r Blaid Gydweithredol) is a description used by candidates in United Kingdom elections who stand on behalf of both the Labour Party (UK), Labour Party and the Co-operativ ...
politician who served as chair of the
London Assembly
The London Assembly is a 25-member elected body, part of the Greater London Authority, that scrutinises the activities of the Mayor of London and has the power, with a two-thirds super-majority, to amend the Mayor's annual budget and to reject ...
, as a reminder of the culture of
corruption
Corruption is a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense which is undertaken by a person or an organization which is entrusted in a position of authority, in order to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's personal gain. Corruption m ...
and unaccountability within the Metropolitan Police. The profile of the case has been raised by investigative journalist
Peter Jukes
Peter Jukes (born 13 October 1960) is an English author, screenwriter, playwright, literary critic and journalist. He is the co-founder and executive editor of ''Byline Times''.
Early life
Jukes was born in Swindon, Wiltshire, England, and atte ...
, who released a
podcast
A podcast is a program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. For example, an episodic series of digital audio or video files that a user can download to a personal device to listen to at a time of their choosing ...
and book about the murder in conjunction with Alastair Morgan, Daniel's brother.
Early life
Daniel Morgan was born on 3 November 1949 in
Singapore
Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...
,
["About Daniel" by Alastair Morgan, Justice for Daniel website](_blank)
accessed 7 July 2011 the son of an army officer.
[Hugh Muir and Duncan Campbel]
"DNA may solve killing that shamed Met"
''The Guardian'', 20 November 2006, accessed 7 July 2011 He grew up with an elder brother and younger sister in
Monmouthshire
Monmouthshire ( cy, Sir Fynwy) is a county in the south-east of Wales. The name derives from the historic county of the same name; the modern county covers the eastern three-fifths of the historic county. The largest town is Abergavenny, with ...
,
Wales
Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...
, where he attended agricultural college in
Usk
Usk ( cy, Brynbuga) is a town and community in Monmouthshire, Wales, northeast of Newport. It is located on the River Usk, which is spanned by an arched stone bridge at the western entrance to the town. Usk Castle, above the town, overlooks th ...
before spending time in
Denmark
)
, song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast")
, song_type = National and royal anthem
, image_map = EU-Denmark.svg
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark
...
gaining experience of farming.
Morgan had an exceptional memory for small details, such as car registration numbers,
and in 1984 he set up a detective agency, Southern Investigations, in
Thornton Heath
Thornton Heath is a district of Greater London, England, within the London Borough of Croydon. It is around north of the town of Croydon, and south of Charing Cross. Prior to the creation of Greater London in 1965, Thornton Heath was in the Co ...
, southern Greater London.
He married in his late twenties and moved to London, where he and his wife settled and had two children.
At the time of his murder, Morgan was having an affair with a woman named Margaret Harrison, and had met her at 6:30pm at a wine bar in
Thornton Heath
Thornton Heath is a district of Greater London, England, within the London Borough of Croydon. It is around north of the town of Croydon, and south of Charing Cross. Prior to the creation of Greater London in 1965, Thornton Heath was in the Co ...
shortly before the murder.
Murder
On 10 March 1987, after having a drink with
Jonathan Rees
Jonathan Rees is a British private investigator, and former partner of murdered private investigator Daniel Morgan.
Early life and career
Born in September 1954 in Doncaster, Yorkshire, Rees left school and joined the Merchant Navy, then became ...
(his partner in Southern Investigations) at the Golden Lion pub in Sydenham, 37-year-old Morgan was found dead in the pub car park next to his car.
[Sandra Lavill]
"Daniel Morgan Axe Murder Case: timeline"
''The Guardian'', 11 March 2011], accessed 7 July 2011 He was found by a
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...
sound producer lying face up with an axe embedded in his head.
Although a watch had been stolen, his wallet had been left and a large sum of money was still in his jacket pocket. The pocket of his trousers had been torn open and notes he had earlier been seen writing were missing.
Detective Sergeant
Sergeant (abbreviated to Sgt. and capitalized when used as a named person's title) is a rank in many uniformed organizations, principally military and policing forces. The alternative spelling, ''serjeant'', is used in The Rifles and other uni ...
Sid Fillery, based at
Catford
Catford is a district in south east London, England, and the administrative centre of the London Borough of Lewisham. It is southwest of Lewisham itself, mostly in the Rushey Green (ward), Rushey Green and Catford South Ward (electoral subdiv ...
police station, was assigned to the case, but did not reveal to superiors that he had been working unofficially for Southern Investigations.
In April 1987, six individuals, including Fillery and Rees, Rees' brothers-in-law Glenn and Garry Vian, and two Metropolitan Police officers, were arrested on suspicion of murder. All were eventually released without charge.
At the inquest into Morgan's death in April 1988, it was alleged that Rees, after disagreements with Morgan, told Kevin Lennon (an accountant at Southern Investigations) that officers at Catford police station who were friends of his were either going to murder Morgan or would arrange it, and that Fillery would replace Morgan as Rees's partner. When asked, Rees denied murdering Morgan.
[Vikram Dodd and Sandra Lavill]
"Scotland Yard admits Daniel Morgan's killers shielded by corruption"
''The Guardian'', 11 March 2011], accessed 17 July 2011 Fillery, who had retired from the Metropolitan Police on medical grounds and joined Southern Investigations as Rees's business partner, was alleged by witnesses to have tampered with evidence and attempted to interfere with witnesses during the inquiry.
In the summer of 1987,
detective constable
A constable is a person holding a particular office, most commonly in criminal Police, law enforcement. The office of constable can vary significantly in different jurisdictions. A constable is commonly the rank of an officer within the police. Ot ...
Alan "Taffy" Holmes, an acquaintance of Morgan, was found to have died by
suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Mental disorders (including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, anxiety disorders), physical disorders (such as chronic fatigue syndrome), and s ...
under mysterious circumstances. Morgan and Holmes allegedly collaborated on unveiling police corruption. This was discounted by the Daniel Morgan Independent Panel report. Haslam was discounted as a serial fantasist by Baroness O'Loan.
The
murder of Stephen Lawrence
Stephen Lawrence (13 September 1974 – 22 April 1993) was a black British teenager from Plumstead, southeast London, who was murdered in a racially motivated attack while waiting for a bus in Well Hall Road, Eltham on the evening of 22 April ...
in 1993 and subsequent reports on police conduct brought further insight into ongoing police corruption in south-east London.
Police investigations
In the years following Morgan's death four police inquiries were conducted.
There were allegations of police corruption,
drug trafficking
A drug is any chemical substance that causes a change in an organism's physiology or psychology when consumed. Drugs are typically distinguished from food and substances that provide nutritional support. Consumption of drugs can be via insuffla ...
and
robbery
Robbery is the crime of taking or attempting to take anything of value by force, threat of force, or by use of fear. According to common law, robbery is defined as taking the property of another, with the intent to permanently deprive the perso ...
.
[Martin Brun]
"Ex-Detective Held Over Axe Murder"
Sky.com News Archive, 22 April 2008, accessed 7 July 2011
Morgan One Investigation
During an initial Metropolitan Police inquiry, Rees and Fillery were questioned, but both denied involvement in the murder.
Hampshire/Police Complaints Authority Investigation
After an inquiry by Hampshire police in 1988, Rees and another man were charged with the murder, but the charges were dropped because of a lack of evidence.
The Hampshire inquiry's 1989 report to the Police Complaints Authority stated that "no evidence whatsoever" had been found of police involvement in the murder.
Fillery retired from the Metropolitan Police on medical grounds and took over Morgan's position as Rees's partner at Southern Investigations.
Operation Nigeria/Two Bridges
In 1998, the Metropolitan Police
Deputy Assistant Commissioner,
Roy Clark
Roy Linwood Clark (April 15, 1933 – November 15, 2018) was an American singer and musician. He is best known for having hosted ''Hee Haw'', a nationally televised country variety show, from 1969 to 1997. Clark was an important and influen ...
, secretly conducted an intelligence-gathering operation with potential links to the murder,
during which Southern Investigations' office was bugged by a known police informant.
In December 2000, Rees was found guilty of conspiring to plant cocaine on an innocent woman to discredit her in a child custody battle, and sentenced to seven years imprisonment for attempting to pervert the course of justice.
When the Morgan family called for disclosure of the 1989 Hampshire police report, Clark imposed very restrictive conditions.
Abelard One/Morgan Two Investigation
In the fourth inquiry, which took place from 2002–2003, a suspect's car and Glenn Vian's house were bugged and conversations recorded.
As a result of the inquiry, the Metropolitan Police obtained evidence that linked a number of individuals to the murder,
but the
Crown Prosecution Service
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) is the principal public agency for conducting criminal prosecutions in England and Wales. It is headed by the Director of Public Prosecutions.
The main responsibilities of the CPS are to provide legal adv ...
decided that the evidence was insufficient to prosecute anyone.
Abelard Two Investigation
After the
Metropolitan Police Commissioner
The Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis is the head of London's Metropolitan Police Service. Sir Mark Rowley was appointed to the post on 8 July 2022 after Dame Cressida Dick announced her resignation in February.
The rank of Commissione ...
Sir Ian Blair
Ian Warwick Blair, Baron Blair of Boughton, (born 19 March 1953) is a law enforcement in the United Kingdom, British retired police officer, policeman who held the position of Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis from 2005 to 2008 and was t ...
declared that the first police inquiry involving Fillery was "compromised", a secret fifth inquiry (fourth, according to the Independent Panel report's terminology in 2021)
began.
Detective Superintendent David Cook was appointed to head an inquiry to review the evidence. Cook described the murder as "one of the worst-kept secrets in south-east London", claiming that "a whole cabal of people" knew the identity of at least some of those involved. He said that efforts had been made to blacken Morgan's character, and dismissed claims that Morgan might have been killed after an affair with a client or because of an involvement with Colombian drug dealers. He identified the main suspects as "white Anglo-Saxons".
Morgan's brother Alastair, who had been critical of police inaction and incompetence, expressed confidence in Cook.
In 2006,
Jennette Arnold
Jennette Arnold, OBE is a Labour Co-op politician who served as chair of the London Assembly for five terms. From 2004 to 2021, Arnold represented the North East constituency, comprising the London Boroughs of Hackney, Islington and Waltham Fo ...
, a member of the
Metropolitan Police Authority
The Metropolitan Police Authority (MPA) (2000–2012) was the local police authority responsible for scrutinising and supporting the work of the Metropolitan Police Service, the police force for Greater London (excluding the City of London Police ...
and Alastair Morgan's
London Assembly
The London Assembly is a 25-member elected body, part of the Greater London Authority, that scrutinises the activities of the Mayor of London and has the power, with a two-thirds super-majority, to amend the Mayor's annual budget and to reject ...
constituency representative, described the unsolved murder as "a reminder of the old police culture of corruption and unaccountability" in London.
Bugs were installed at Glenn Vian's home. Police arrested Rees and Fillery once again, along with Glenn and Garry Vian, and a builder named James Cook, all on suspicion of murder, as well as a serving police officer suspected of leaking information.
Fillery was arrested on suspicion of attempting to pervert the course of justice.
Alastair Morgan described it as a "massive step forward".
Collapse of trial
In 2009 the trial of Rees, Fillery, the Vian brothers and Cook began at the
Old Bailey
The Central Criminal Court of England and Wales, commonly referred to as the Old Bailey after the street on which it stands, is a criminal court building in central London, one of several that house the Crown Court of England and Wales. The s ...
. In February 2010, the trial judge dismissed a key
supergrass
Supergrass are an English rock band formed in 1993 in Oxford. For the majority of the band's tenure, the line-up consisted of brothers Gaz (lead vocals, guitar) and Rob Coombes (keyboards), Mick Quinn (bass, backing vocals) and Danny Goffey ( ...
witness and a stay of prosecution was ordered in Fillery's case. In November 2010 a second supergrass witness was dismissed, James Cook was discharged and in January 2011, a third supergrass witness was dismissed, after accusations that police had failed to disclose that he was a registered police informant.
In March 2011,
Director of Public Prosecutions
The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) is the office or official charged with the prosecution of criminal offences in several criminal jurisdictions around the world. The title is used mainly in jurisdictions that are or have been members o ...
Sir
Keir Starmer
Sir Keir Rodney Starmer (; born 2 September 1962) is a British politician and barrister who has served as Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the Labour Party since 2020. He has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Holborn and St Pancras ...
abandoned the case. Rees and his former brothers-in-law were acquitted, because the prosecution were unable to guarantee the defendants' right to a fair trial. Charges against Fillery and another had already been dropped.
The case had not reached the stage of considering whether the defendants had murdered Morgan but was still dealing with preliminary issues.
The judge, Mr Justice Maddison, mentioned the case's vastness and complexity,
involving some of the longest legal argument submitted in a trial in the English criminal courts.
While he considered that the prosecution had been "principled" and "right" to drop the case, the judge observed that the police had had "ample grounds to justify the arrest and prosecution of the defendants".
In the course of the five inquiries some 750,000 documents associated with the case, most of them not computerised, had been assembled. Some of these related to evidence provided by the criminal "supergrasses" that the defence claimed was too unreliable to be put to a jury. In March 2011, four additional crates of material not disclosed to the defence were found. This followed earlier problems with crates of documents being mislaid and discovered by chance.
Nicholas Hilliard
Nicholas Hilliard () was an English goldsmith and limner best known for his portrait miniatures of members of the courts of Elizabeth I and James I of England. He mostly painted small oval miniatures, but also some larger cabinet miniatures, ...
QC, appearing for the CPS, acknowledged the police could not be relied upon to ensure access to documents that the defence might require and the prosecution was fatally undermined as a result.
The Metropolitan Police's senior homicide officer, Detective Chief Superintendent Hamish Campbell, apologised to the family, acknowledging the impact on the case of police corruption in the past. "This current investigation has identified, ever more clearly, how the initial inquiry failed the family and wider public. It is quite apparent that police corruption was a debilitating factor in that investigation."
While indicating a satisfactory relationship with the police officers present, Morgan's family condemned the way police and the Crown Prosecution Service had investigated the case and their failure to bring anyone to trial. For much of the family's 24-year-long campaign for justice, they had encountered "stubborn obstruction and worse at the highest levels of the Metropolitan Police", an impotent police complaints system and "inertia or worse" on the part of successive governments.
''News of the World'' scandal
After the collapse of the Old Bailey trial in March 2011 it was revealed that Rees had earned £150,000 a year from the ''
News of the World
The ''News of the World'' was a weekly national Tabloid journalism#Red tops, red top Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published every Sunday in the United Kingdom from 1843 to 2011. It was at one time the world's highest-selling En ...
'' for supplying illegally obtained information about people in the public eye.
After Rees completed his prison sentence for perverting the course of justice, he was hired again by the ''News of the World'', at the time edited by
Andy Coulson
Andrew Edward Coulson (born 21 January 1968) is an English journalist and political strategist.
Coulson was the editor of the ''News of the World'' from 2003 until his resignation in 2007, following the conviction of one of the newspaper's repo ...
.
Rees worked regularly on behalf of the ''
Daily Mirror
The ''Daily Mirror'' is a British national daily tabloid. Founded in 1903, it is owned by parent company Reach plc. From 1985 to 1987, and from 1997 to 2002, the title on its masthead was simply ''The Mirror''. It had an average daily print ...
'' and the ''
Sunday Mirror
The ''Sunday Mirror'' is the Sunday sister paper of the ''Daily Mirror''. It began life in 1915 as the ''Sunday Pictorial'' and was renamed the ''Sunday Mirror'' in 1963. In 2016 it had an average weekly circulation of 620,861, dropping marke ...
'' as well as the ''News of the World'', investigating the bank accounts of the royal family and obtaining information on public figures. He had a network of contacts with corrupt police officers, who obtained confidential records for him. He claimed that his extensive contacts provided him with confidential information from banks and government organisations and he was routinely able to obtain confidential data from bank accounts, telephone records, car registration details and computers. He was also alleged to have commissioned burglaries on behalf of journalists.
Despite detailed evidence, the
Metropolitan Police
The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS), formerly and still commonly known as the Metropolitan Police (and informally as the Met Police, the Met, Scotland Yard, or the Yard), is the territorial police force responsible for law enforcement and ...
failed to pursue investigations into Rees's corrupt relationship with the ''News of the World'' over more than a decade. In 2006, the Metropolitan Police accepted the ''News of the World''s disclaimer that the paper's royal correspondent
Clive Goodman
Clive Goodman (born 17 September 1957, in Hammersmith, London) is an English journalist, former royal editor and reporter for the ''News of the World''. He was arrested in August 2006 and jailed in January 2007 for News International phone hacking ...
, who had been sent to prison in 2007 for intercepting the voicemail of the British royal family, had been operating alone. They did not interview any other ''News of the World'' journalists or executives and did not seek a court order allowing them access to ''News of the World'' internal records.
In June 2011, ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' newspaper, calling for a public inquiry into the ''News of the World'' phone-hacking scandal, focused its criticism of the parent company
News Corporation
News Corporation (abbreviated News Corp.), also variously known as News Corporation Limited, was an American multinational mass media corporation controlled by media mogul Rupert Murdoch and headquartered at 1211 Avenue of the Americas in Ne ...
's handling of accusations of crime within the organisation on the newspaper's use of Jonathan Rees's investigative services. Rees's activities were described as a "devastating pattern of illegal behaviour", far exceeding those of the other investigators commissioned by News Corporation, who used illicit means to target prominent figures. They included unauthorised access to computer data and bank accounts, corruption of police officers and alleged commissioning of burglaries, for information about targets at the highest level of state and government, including the royal family and the Cabinet, police chief commissioners, governors of the Bank of England and the intelligence services. ''The Guardian'' queried why the Metropolitan Police had chosen to exclude a very large quantity of Rees material from investigation by its Operation Weeting inquiry into phone hacking.
''The Guardian'' had published extensively on Rees’s involvement with corrupt police officers and the procurement of confidential information, for what ''Guardian'' journalist
Nick Davies
Nicholas Davies (born 28 March 1953) is an award-winning British investigative journalist, writer, and documentary maker.
Davies has written extensively as a freelancer, as well as for ''The Guardian'' and ''The Observer'', and been named Re ...
described as Rees's one "golden source" of income in particular, commissions from the ''News of the World''. Davies has reported at length on what he described as the "empire of corruption" that Jonathan Rees and Sid Fillery built in the years following Daniel Morgan's murder, after Fillery replaced Morgan as Rees's partner.
Independent inquiry
In May 2013, the
Home Office announced it was to hold an independent inquiry into Morgan's death. Home Secretary
Theresa May
Theresa Mary May, Lady May (; née Brasier; born 1 October 1956) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2016 to 2019. She previously served in David Cameron's cab ...
acknowledged that there was "no likelihood of any successful prosecutions being brought in the foreseeable future" but said that the independent panel would "shine a light" on the circumstances of his murder and the handling of the case.
Mark Ellison QC published a report on 6 March 2014 into alleged
Metropolitan Police
The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS), formerly and still commonly known as the Metropolitan Police (and informally as the Met Police, the Met, Scotland Yard, or the Yard), is the territorial police force responsible for law enforcement and ...
corruption in the
murder of Stephen Lawrence
Stephen Lawrence (13 September 1974 – 22 April 1993) was a black British teenager from Plumstead, southeast London, who was murdered in a racially motivated attack while waiting for a bus in Well Hall Road, Eltham on the evening of 22 April ...
. The report also commented that there was substantial evidence linking an alleged corrupt police officer with involvement in the murder of Morgan.
In July 2014 it was announced that
Baroness O'Loan
Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often Hereditary title, hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher th ...
would be taking over chairing the inquiry, on the withdrawal of previous chairman Sir
Stanley Burnton
Sir Stanley Jeffrey Burnton (born 25 October 1942) is a British lawyer and former Lord Justice of Appeal.
Early life
Burnton was educated at Hackney Downs Grammar School. He studied jurisprudence at St Edmund Hall, Oxford, and graduated from th ...
, and
Kate Blackwell
Katherine Anne Blackwell (born 31 August 1983) is a former Australian cricketer. Blackwell was born in Wagga Wagga, but raised in Yenda, a small rural town outside of Griffith, New South Wales. She and her identical twin sister Alex Blackwell w ...
QC was appointed as Counsel to the panel. In October 2014 the Vian brothers, Fillery, Rees and Cook launched a £4 million lawsuit against the Metropolitan Police. In February 2017 the
High Court ruled on the lawsuit. Rees and the Vians lost their claim, but Fillery was awarded £25,000 in interim damages with a higher amount to be determined later. The Rees and Vians appeal was heard in 2018. In 2019 Rees and the Vians were awarded damages of £414,000 after winning their
malicious prosecution
Malicious prosecution is a common law intentional tort. Like the tort of abuse of process, its elements include (1) intentionally (and maliciously) instituting and pursuing (or causing to be instituted or pursued) a legal action (civil or criminal ...
case against the Metropolitan Police.
The inquiry was due to publish its report on 17 May 2021, but was delayed further by the
Home Secretary
The secretary of state for the Home Department, otherwise known as the home secretary, is a senior minister of the Crown in the Government of the United Kingdom. The home secretary leads the Home Office, and is responsible for all national ...
,
Priti Patel
Priti Sushil Patel (born 29 March 1972) is a British politician who served as Home Secretary from 2019 to 2022. A member of the Conservative Party, she was Secretary of State for International Development from 2016 to 2017. Patel has been the Me ...
wanting to review it for national security and human rights issues. On 18 May, the panel refused to hand over the report, claiming that it had already been extensively vetted to ensure it complied with the government's human rights obligations and senior police officers had confirmed it did not pose any national security issues. Morgan's family objected that the intervention was "unnecessary and inconsistent with the panel's independence" and also suspected the involvement of "
Rupert Murdoch
Keith Rupert Murdoch ( ; born 11 March 1931) is an Australian-born American business magnate. Through his company News Corp, he is the owner of hundreds of local, national, and international publishing outlets around the world, including ...
's media empire".
The report was finally published on 15 June 2021. The report found that the Metropolitan Police were "institutionally corrupt" in its handling of the investigation into the murder of Daniel Morgan and that the force had placed protecting its reputation above the investigation.
Media investigations
Podcast
In May 2016, Morgan's murder became the subject of a 10-part
podcast
A podcast is a program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. For example, an episodic series of digital audio or video files that a user can download to a personal device to listen to at a time of their choosing ...
presented by
Peter Jukes
Peter Jukes (born 13 October 1960) is an English author, screenwriter, playwright, literary critic and journalist. He is the co-founder and executive editor of ''Byline Times''.
Early life
Jukes was born in Swindon, Wiltshire, England, and atte ...
, ''Untold: The Daniel Morgan Murder'' which topped the UK
iTunes
iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mul ...
podcast chart. The following year, Jukes co-wrote a book with Alastair Morgan titled ''Untold: the Daniel Morgan Murder Exposed'', which featured new revelations about the case.
Channel 4 documentary
''Murder in the Car Park'', a three-part
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...
documentary about the murder was first broadcast on UK television on 15 June 2020, ahead of the results of an independent inquiry.
See also
*
List of unsolved murders in the United Kingdom
This is an incomplete list of unsolved known and presumed murders in the United Kingdom. It does not include any of the 3,000 or so murders that took place in Northern Ireland due to the Troubles and remain unsolved. Victims believed or known t ...
*
Metropolitan police role in phone hacking scandal
Metropolitan may refer to:
* Metropolitan area, a region consisting of a densely populated urban core and its less-populated surrounding territories
* Metropolitan borough, a form of local government district in England
* Metropolitan county, a typ ...
*
Phone hacking scandal reference lists
The news media phone hacking scandal is a controversy over illegal acquisition of confidential information by news media organizations that reportedly occurred in the United Kingdom, the United States and Australia between 1995 and 2011. This art ...
*
Murder of Lindsay Rimer
Lindsay Jo Rimer (17 February 1981 – ''ca.''7 November 1994) was a thirteen-year-old British girl from Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire, who was murdered. She was last seen alive buying cornflakes at a SPAR shop on Crown Street in Hebden Bridge ...
, unsolved 1994 murder in England also subject to many theories
Notes
References
Sources
*
Further reading
*
External links
Untold podcast by Peter Jukes and Deeivya Meir
{{DEFAULTSORT:Morgan, Daniel
1980s murders in London
1987 in London
1987 murders in the United Kingdom
2000s trials
2010s trials
Axe murder
Deaths by person in London
March 1987 crimes
March 1987 events in the United Kingdom
Murder trials
Police misconduct in England
Trials in London
Unsolved murders in London
Sydenham, London
History of the Metropolitan Police