Family of murdered Daniel Morgan to sue Met Police for damages over ‘corruption cover-up’

The family of murdered Daniel Morgan will sue the Met Police, alleging a continuing “cover-up” of corruption.

The private detective was killed with an axe in the car park of a south east London pub in 1987.

The force has previously admitted the initial inquiry into Mr Morgan’s death was hampered by police corruption.

An official inquiry in June said that Met commissioner Cressida Dick obstructed the panel, appointed by the government to investigate claims of corruption in the hunt for Morgan’s killers, by failing to allow access to police records.

The damning report accused the force of a type of “institutional corruption” - but despite that, the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime (Mopac), which oversees the Met, decided Dame Cressida would not face disciplinary action.

The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) is still to make a decision in relation to Dame Cressida and other Met officers.

Now the family of the father-of-two say they will sue the Met, claiming damages, reports the Guardian.

The Morgan family solicitor, Raju Bhatt, told the newspaper that Cressida Dick would be named as a defendant in the civil suit.

“The claim alleges deliberate abuse or bad faith in the exercise of powers by any officer of the crown with knowledge or reckless indifference to the consequences of such conduct,” said Mr Bhatt.

A Met spokesman confirmed it had received a notice of the intended suit on December 7, and said the force was considering its response.

“Since the Daniel Morgan independent panel published its report six months ago, a dedicated team within the Met has been established and is progressing its response to those recommendations specific to the Met, while engaging with other lead organisations named in the report,” he said.

“We remain committed to this work and expect to fully report our progress to the home secretary and mayoral office in spring 2022.”

Despite five police inquiries and an inquest, no-one has been brought to justice over the father-of-two's death, who co-ran the Southern Investigations private detective agency.