The mother of a private investigator, murdered in a pub car park 17 years ago, has
branded the inquiry into his death “completely incompetent”.
Daniel Morgan, 37, originally from Llanfrechfa, Monmouthshire, was attacked with
an axe in a pub car park in London on March 10, 1987.
Only now have his family been told why a prosecution into his death was dropped.
Mr Morgan’s mother, Isobel Hulsmann from Hay-on-Wye, said, ’We have an idea who
the killers are, but we cannot name them for legal reasons.’
“But it’s clear the original inquiry was incompetent beyond belief.”
“We were very disappointed to read the CPS report and we have no longer any
faith in the police investigation.”
“The only possible solution to this sordid mess is for the Home Secretary to
grant an independent public inquiry examining the police investigations.”
There have been four investigations into her son’s death - the most recent of
which began in June 2002 - and although there have been several arrests no one
has ever been convicted.
But following the end of the most recent inquiry by the Metropolitan Police last
September, the Crown Prosecution Service decided not to continue.
Mr Morgan had been drinking with a business associate in the Golden Lion pub in
Sydenham, south London, on the evening of his death. Some time after his
companion left, the married father-of-two finished his drink and left about 9pm.
As he walked across the pub car park, he was attacked with an axe. His body was
found 10 minutes later - the weapon still embedded in his head. Mr Morgan’s £900
Rolex watch was missing but £1,100 in cash was not taken and police later ruled
out robbery as a motive.
As the co-owner of a firm called Southern Investigations, which employed
off-duty police officers, there have been claims he was about to expose links
between officers and a professional criminal.
Following Mr Morgan’s death some police officers were arrested but later
released and sued Scotland Yard for wrongful arrest.
In the six-page document, the CPS said that an informant who named suspects
targeted in the latest police inquiry, had already withdrawn his statements. It
goes on to say that there is no evidence he was killed as a result of a
particular event around that time, such as an argument or confrontation, and
that there were no eye-witnesses to the attack. Added to that, the report says
there is a lack of scientific evidence.
The police refused to comment directly about the contents of the
recently-released CPS report, but a senior officer said he was confident the
murder could still be solved.
