The murder of Daniel Morgan reads like an Elstree crime thriller — a gruesome killing in a pub car park and an initial police investigationwhich the Met itself admitted was “compromised”.
Despite spending tens of millions of pounds the Met has repeatedly failed to solve the crime. In such situations even the most dogged detective needs to question the wisdom of carrying on long after comparable cases have been either scaled down or placed on file.
During my time holding the reins of this case, from 2001-03, I came under immense pressure from the Morgan family and politicians to keep the case open. They felt the first investigation had been botched and had high expectations that the Met would pull out all the stops.
Unless you have lost a relative or friend at the hands of a murderer it is impossible to understand the intensity of the emotions felt by the bereaved. Families expect the police to provide answers to the questions what happened, who was responsible and when will the murderer be caught?
Sometimes their expectations far outweigh what can be achieved from the available evidence. Murder investigations are never closed, but when the trail starts to dry up it is normal for the case to be scaled down and for detectives to be reassigned.
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In the Morgan case the Met has been desperate to achieve a result even though most lines of inquiry are stagnant. The strong likelihood in this case is that the first investigation was tainted in a way that made future inquiries very difficult. It seems to me that vital evidence was lost a long time ago.
The Met could be commended for its persistence. But there are dozens of unsolved murders on its books and hundreds around the country, and few receive this level of police attention. Looking back, it seems that in the Morgan case the police suspended professional judgment in the face of external pressures from the family and its political supporters.