Documents relevant to the Daniel Morgan murder investigation have been found in a locked cabinet at New Scotland Yard.
Met Assistant Commissioner Barbara Gray said the discovery of paperwork in a unit that had not been used for a number of years was “unacceptable and deeply regrettable”.
Some of this material should have been disclosed to Baroness Nuala O’Loan’s Daniel Morgan Independent Panel which published its final report in June 2021.
Mr Morgan was killed with an axe in the car park of the Golden Lion pub in Sydenham, south-east London, on March 10 1987.
The independent panel set up to look into the case published a scathing report which accused the Met of “a form of institutional corruption” for concealing or denying failings over the unsolved murder.
A careful assessment has been completed to understand the significance of the newly found documents and any potential impact.
A total of 95 pages of material have been initially identified that would have been disclosed under a protocol agreed with the Panel.
Assistant Commissioner 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.”
The documents were found in January and an assessment started in February.
Some of the material is relevant to the work of DMIP and a subsequent inspection by His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary.
The Independent Office for Police Conduct, the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime and the Home Office have been informed.
A Met spokesman said: “Our assessment is that there are no evidential documents that relate to criminal investigations into the murder.
“The Met has written to the family of Daniel Morgan and Baroness Nuala O’Loan to explain what we believe has taken place and outline next steps.”
