Danny Morgan's family agony as trial delayed

Published: 29 January 2010
by DAVID ST GEORGE

THE family of a man murdered 23 years ago will have to endure another agonising delay in their quest for justice.
Private investigator Danny Morgan, whose campaigning brother Alastair lives in Islington, was killed in a horrific attack in a pub car park on March 10, 1987.
The father of two, aged 37, is understood to have been about to blow the whistle on corruption when he was silenced as he strolled out of the Golden Lion in Sydenham, south London.
He was struck five times and a hatchet was left embedded in his skull. His £900 Rolex watch and £1,100 in his back pocket were left.
Five major Scotland Yard probes and a £50,000 reward for information failed to provide a breakthrough as the years went by.
But in 2008 detectives were given leads which led to several arrests.
Now four men are to stand trial at the Old Bailey – the hearing before Mr Justice Maddison is expected to begin on September 13 – accused of murdering Mr Morgan who lived in ­Dulwich with his wife and children and was a partner in an investigation agency in south London.
William Rees, 55, from Surrey, who helped run the agency, Garry Vian, 49, and his brother Glenn Vian, 51, from south London, and James Cook, 54, from Surrey, are due in the dock to face a jury.
All strenuously deny any role in the ­murder and their trial is expected to last several weeks.