Sadiq Khan left 'speechless' after Daniel Morgan files found in locked safe

11 May 2023, 11:21 | Updated: 11 May 2023, 11:32

Sadiq Khan 'speechless' over Daniel Morgan filling cabinet discovery

Sadiq Khan was left "speechless" when he was told the documents from the Daniel Morgan case were discovered in a locked safe.

The Met had to apologise to the private investigator's family and said some of the files found should have been given to an inquiry into his murder.

They were found in the safe at New Scotland Yard on the same floor where senior officers work.

Mr Khan was asked about the discovery by Alastair Morgan, Daniel's brother, on LBC on Thursday morning.

"I'm very rarely speechless in my job for reasons you'll appreciate. I was speechless when I was told there was a filing cabinet that was locked and when it was opened up these documents were found," the mayor of London told Speak to Sadiq.

Read more: Daniel Morgan files found in locked cabinet inside Scotland Yard 'next to senior officer's desk'

"This will be properly looked into, just to reassure you. My understanding is, the reason for the delay is that those documents were gone through to see if they've already been disclosed to the panel.

"And only in discovering some of them hadn't been disclosed to the panel was it brought up to me and the others.

"My understanding is all those documents have now been sent to the panel and the police have again... apologised to you and your family.

"But it's not good enough, because I was reassured by the former commissioner there'd been full disclosure."

Mr Khan, who was referring to Dame Cressida Dick, also said she had not accepted the findings of the panel into Mr Morgan's murder.

Read more: Brother of murdered detective Daniel Morgan 'pleased' at Cressida Dick resignation

Chaired by Baroness Nuala O'Loan, it accused the Met of being "institutionally corrupt" in its report in June 2021, and of covering up its mistakes when it failed to properly investigate the killing.

"We have a new commissioner and what's he done is broken open the safe... and made sure these documents are presented to the panel," he said, adding he believed the documents had only been discovered by accident.

Daniel Morgan was a private detective based in south London who was found dead with an axe embedded in his neck in a Sydenham pub car park late on 10 March 1987.

The Met said on Wednesday that some of this material found locked in the cupboard "should have been disclosed to [the panel] which published its final report in June 2021".

Assistant Commissioner Barbara Gray said: "We fully acknowledge how unacceptable and deeply regrettable this situation is.

"We are working to understand what has taken place and any impact. We apologise to the family of Daniel Morgan and to the panel."

A total of 60 documents were found that should have been handed over, though none contained information on the criminal investigation into the murder, according to the force.

A spokesperson for the police inspectorate HMICFRS said: "The Met has informed us of the documents it has recently discovered, which are relevant to our previous inspection. We have agreed to review these documents and will report our assessment of them in due course."