A former detective has become Scotland Yard's first police ‘supergrass’ after
alleging wide-ranging and serious corruption that could implicate up to 50 former
colleagues.
The allegations have been made by Duncan Hanrahan, who is being kept in a ‘supergrass
suite’ for his own safety while helping to expose what some officers say is the
Yard’s biggest corruption scandal for more than 20 years.
Hanrahan is thought to know about cocaine distribution by a network of policemen,
the soliciting of bribes to destroy evidence in prosecutions and the
sale to criminals of confidential information from the police national computer.
Interviews with several of his close friends and lawyers with knowledge of the
case reveal he is making statements about the role said to have been played by
police in the unsolved brutal murder of a private investigator who was
threatening to expose dozens of corrupt officers in the Metropolitan police.
Last week Sir Paul Condon, the Metropolitan police commissioner, caused fresh
controversy when he told a meeting of officers that there was “a significant
minority” of criminals serving in his force. “Some of these rogue officers are
committing serious offences,” he said.
Jack Straw, the home secretary, and senior officers including Condon, are
determined to root out corruption in all the 52 British police forces.
Hanrahan, 39, a former detective constable from south London, was questioned
earlier this year over an unrelated case.
The supergrass suite at a secret south London location, where he is being kept,
is nicknamed ‘the Dorchester’ and is said by police informants to be a fully
furnished apartment with satellite television and a telephone.
A lawyer close to the case said Hanrahan had become the first police officer to
turn supergrass on corruption in the ranks. “He has rolled over big-time and is
now implicating dozens of officers,’ said another source.
Investigators believe Hanrahan has vital information about the murder of Daniel
Morgan, a private investigator who was found with an axe in his head in a south
London pub car park 10 years ago.
One former detective, a friend of Hanrahan, said the supergrass had told him
that Morgan was murdered because he was threatening to expose the involvement of
police officers in organising robberies and moonlighting for private security
companies. There is no suggestion that Hanrahan was involved in the killing.
Chris Smith, the secretary for culture, media and sport and constituency MP of
Morgan’s brother, is so concerned about the murder that he will meet Condon next
month to demand a new police inquiry.
Smith said the situation was very unsatisfactory. “Where you have an unsolved
murder and serious questions have been raised about the actions of individual
police officers, it needs further investigation,” he said. “I'm anxious to get
the matter reopened.’
Alastair Morgan, the victim’s brother, said he, too, hoped that Condon would
reopen the case. “My brother Danny was murdered because he was going to expose
police corruption and I believe the Metropolitan police have been involved in
covering that up,” he said.
Since moving into the supergrass suite four months ago, Hanrahan has been
extensively debriefed by senior officers from the Complaints Investigation
Bureau, the Yard's anti-corruption squad.
Hanrahan is understood to know about officers selling secrets from the police
national computer. One of his former colleagues is Detective Constable Nigel
Graystone, who was suspended following an inquiry into the sale of police
secrets to outsiders.
Two months ago Graystone offered to sell details of criminal records to an
undercover Sunday Times reporter. He has since left the force, thus avoiding a
disciplinary inquiry. But sources say he has stayed in contact with a network of
officers, former officers and private security consultants, who are said to have
access to information from the computer.
The anti-corruption squad is also keen to press Hanrahan on his knowledge of
officers who are alleged to have been involved in the sale and distribution of
cocaine.
The Sunday Times has established that Hanrahan knows two detectives - both of
whom cannot be named for legal reasons - alleged to be linked to drug-dealing.
Last week one of the men admitted his home had been raided by police following
allegations that he had been involved in buying and selling cocaine and heroin.
The detective, who retired from the force more than a year ago after repeatedly
being questioned over criminal offences, admitted he had links with Joseph
Wilkins, a former West End nightclub owner who is wanted by Scotland Yard after
escaping from a British prison where he was serving a 10-year sentence for drug
importation offences. The former officer said Wilkins had approached him last
year to ask him to transport a shipment of drugs from London to Scotland. He
said he refused.
Equally worrying for Condon is evidence that some of his men have received death
threats from others in the force who are concerned that they are speaking out.
Witnesses have also been intimidated.
Hanrahan is also understood to have named a former Scotland Yard commander as
being linked to a network of corrupt officers. Last week the retired commander
said Hanrahan had contacted him with the allegation. “I rang the Yard to let
them know where they could contact me if they wanted to talk to me about
anything,” he said. “They said I had nothing to worry about.”
Scotland Yard officials emphasise that Hanrahan’s evidence has not yet led to
the formal opening of a new investigation. However, his contribution is thought
to be proving invaluable to the biggest drive against corruption at the Yard
since Operation Countryman in the 1970s, when hundreds of CID officers were
forced to resign.
The anti-corruption initiative is likely to grow because some officers under
suspicion are understood to be preparing dossiers on their corrupt colleagues to
use in their defence if they are arrested or charged.
Scotland Yard yesterday declined to clarify the extent of the information being
given by Hanrahan. A spokesman said there was nobody under police protection or
armed guard. Lawyers say Hanrahan is technically under the protection of the
prison service.
