Daniel Morgan murder: Family makes Leveson appeal to PM

Daniel Morgan was found dead in a south London pub car park in 1987

The brother of a murdered private detective has urged the prime minister to continue with the second part of the Leveson Inquiry into press ethics.

The family of Daniel Morgan, found with an axe in his head in a car park in 1987, believe he was about to expose police corruption when he died.

His brother Alastair Morgan said the statutory Leveson Two inquiry into links between journalists, police and private investigators was essential.

The Met said the case was "complex".

The force said it was working closely with a separate independent panel set up by then-Home Secretary Theresa May in 2013 to review the circumstances of his death.

Cover-up accusations

The body of Mr Morgan, 37, from Llanfrechfa, near Cwmbran, was found outside the Golden Lion pub in Sydenham, London.

There have been five police investigations and the Metropolitan Police admitted police corruption marred the first inquiry.

There have been no convictions and the case has been riddled with accusations of corruption and cover-ups.

Four men were charged with Mr Morgan's murder in 2008, but after 18 months of legal argument the prosecution collapsed in March 2011.

Expert panel

As home secretary in 2013, Theresa May set up an independent, judge-led panel of experts to examine claims police corruption prevented a conviction, despite five investigations.

At the time she said the Hillsborough-style inquiry would "shine a light" on the Morgan case.

The inquiry was set up to:

• look at police involvement in the murder

• examine the role played by police corruption in preventing those responsible for the killing from being brought to justice, and the failure to confront that corruption

• look at the incidence of connections between private investigators, police officers and journalists at the News of the World and other parts of the media and alleged corruption involved in the links between them

Mr Morgan's brother said the 2013 panel's work has been delayed due to a "lack of full co-operation" by the police.

The panel was expected to take between 18 months and two years to complete its work but it is now unlikely to finish before autumn 2017, Mr Morgan said.

He has since written to the prime minister saying a statutory inquiry, the second part of the Leveson Inquiry into the press, should follow the panel's work.

The government is currently consulting on whether to hold the second part of the Leveson Inquiry, which would look at relations between the press and the police. The consultation is due to end next week.

Former culture secretary John Whittingdale told BBC Radio Four's Today programme that Leveson was not a "suitable vehicle" to consider Mr Morgan's case.

Speaking about whether the second part of Leveson should go ahead, he said it was "very difficult to justify a re-examination of events which are now 10 years old, which have already been hauled over many, many times".

He added that he had spoken to Sir Brian Leveson, who he claimed had no enthusiasm to proceed with the inquiry.

Mr Whittingdale said: "He's got other jobs to do now, he's already given up 15 months of his life for one inquiry and I've talked to him and I know he doesn't have any enthusiasm."

'One million pages'

Of the separate Daniel Morgan inquiry, the Met Police said: "It has been an extremely complex process for many reasons, including the volume and nature of the material involved, and the fact there was no statutory framework to govern the disclosure process.

"The MPS continues to work closely with the Daniel Morgan Independent Panel, who have had access to over one million pages of information."

The murder of Mr Morgan was raised at the original Leveson inquiry into media standards and ethics in 2012 in evidence from former Metropolitan Police detective and BBC Crimewatch presenter Jacqui Hames.

Ms Hames, a victim of phone-hacking, told the inquiry that she and her husband, Det Ch Supt Dave Cook, were placed under surveillance by the News of the World after he appeared on Crimewatch seeking information about Mr Morgan's murder.

Last month Ms Hames applied for a judicial review of the decision by Culture Secretary Karen Bradley to consult on whether to go ahead with part two of the Leveson Inquiry.

A spokesman for the judiciary said Sir Brian was appointed to carry out both parts one and two of the inquiry and said he would need to be consulted if the government chose not to proceed with it or changed its terms.

The spokesman added that Sir Brian had not made "any public statement as to the merits of part two or his own involvement in any proceedings".