Danny Morgan's family devastated by murder trial’s collapse

Published: 25th March, 2011
by DAVID ST GEORGE

THE family of a murdered private detective have been left shattered by the collapse of a trial that they hoped would bring them some of the answers in their quest for justice after decades of delay.

Alastair Morgan, 62, from Old Street, brother of victim Danny Morgan, has vowed to continue the battle to get to the truth.

He was in court at the Old Bailey where the case has dragged on for months, and, together with the cost of five major police inquiries, racked up a £30million price tag.

In March 1987, father of two Danny, 37, a successful investigator who ran his own business and lived with his family in Dulwich, was hacked to death with an axe in the car park of the Golden Lion pub in Sydenham, used by several Scotland Yard detectives.

Mr Morgan is understood to have been about to blow the whistle and expose wide corruption between police and drugs gangs.

On March 11, following dozens of court hearings, the final three men accused of his murder were freed when the prosecution was forced to throw in the towel and offer no evidence against them on a murder allegation.

Alastair Morgan, who has monitored every step of the case since charges were first laid against them – and two others who were cleared earlier in April 2008 – was in court again to watch the outcome.

He said: “The family are calling for a judicial inquiry into the handling of this case by the police and the Crown Prosecution Service. After all these years we have not had anyone going before a jury to answer for my brother’s murder. The criminal justice system is simply not fit for purpose.”

High-level corruption and the desperation of detectives to save their own skins led to “stubborn obstruction” had robbed the family of justice and the chance of closure, he said.

An apology to the family was offered by Det Chief Supt Hamish Campbell, who said: “It is quite apparent that police corruption was a debilitating factor in the original investigation.”

The three suspects who have been cleared when the prosecution offered no evidence are Jonathan Rees, 56, Danny Morgan’s former business partner. They ran Southern Investigations from an office in South London. Rees was jailed in 2000 at the Old Bailey for trying to frame an innocent woman after planting drugs. Brothers Gary Vian, 50, and Glenn Vian, 52, were also cleared. All three men are from south London.

Gary Vian remains in custody serving an 11-year sentence for his role in a multi-million-pound drugs racket.

Mr Justice Maddison, who was due to conduct the trial, said the vastness of the case, involving more than 750,000 documents and a number of so-called supergrasses, had caused the Morgan family “extreme distress”. He said there were “ample grounds” to justify the arrests and prosecution of the suspects and the Crown’s decision to draw a halt was “principled and right”.