New Inquiry Into the Death of Private Investigator Daniel Morgan

LONDON, May 14, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --

26 years after the murder of Daniel Morgan, the private investigator's mysterious death has returned to the public eye. The team at North Court Investigations have watched with interest as the Home Office has opened a new independent inquiry into the case. Following a long campaign by the Morgan family, the Home Secretary Theresa May has decided that the case will be re-examined in the hope of confirming who was responsible for Daniel's death.

Morgan was brutally killed in 1987 in a south London pub car park, after meeting his Southern Investigations business partner Jonathan Rees for a drink. He was attacked with an axe to the back of his head and left for dead. His watch and some notes he had written were stolen, but his wallet and £1,100 in cash were left behind, suggesting that this was not a mugging. It is believed that he was intending to expose police corruption, and that his murder may have been committed by a member of the police or with their cooperation.

Since 1987 there have been five police inquiries, and numerous arrests. Daniel's business partner Jonathan and a police detective named Sid Fillery, who also worked unofficially for Southern Investigations, have been arrested on multiple occasions but there was never considered to be enough concrete evidence. According to Detective Superintendent David Cook, who was in charge of the most recent inquiry, which began in 2006, "a whole cabal of people" were aware or involved in the killing in some way. Cook called the murder "one of the worst-kept secrets in south-east London."

The case has attracted intense media speculation and public interest over the years, particularly due to Jonathan Rees' connections to numerous other high profile cases. Rees was imprisoned in 2000 for perverting the course of justice after he made plans to plant cocaine on an innocent woman to sabotage her chances of winning a child custody battle. He was also implicated in the phone-hacking controversy, which was exposed in 2011.

Shortly after being released from prison, Jonathan was employed by the News of the World and other tabloids to illegally obtain information about people in the public eye. According to the Guardian journalist Nick Davies, Rees and Fillery created an "empire of corruption" when they became business partners after Morgan's death. The newspaper also questioned why the Metropolitan Police neglected to investigate portions of Rees' material in their phone-hacking inquiry.

One of the campaigners who requested a new inquiry into Daniel Morgan's murder was Labour MP Tom Watson, believes that the investigator was killed as he was about to expose Met Police corruption. If the inquiry manages to prove that the London police service was involved in a cover-up, this will add to the damage to their reputation caused by the Leveson inquiry's revelations. The Home Office's independent review of Morgan's case will look into not only the evidence surrounding his murder, but also the evidence of a cover-up.

About North Court Investigations

North Court Investigations is a leading private detective agency based in London. The team provides expert advice and assistance to a range of clients, while being sure to maintain confidentiality and discretion at all times.