Force accused of dragging heels for nearly two years before handing over documents relating to Daniel Morgan murder

Scotland Yard has been accused of obstructing an independent inquiry into one of the biggest scandals in its history, which saw a man murdered allegedly as he was about to expose corrupt officers.

The inquiry into the murder of private eye Daniel Morgan – found with an axe embedded in his head in March 1987 – was ordered by the home secretary, Theresa May, in May 2013.

Police promised to cooperate with the inquiry but delayed handing over any case papers for 18 months.

Alastair Morgan, brother of the murdered private detective, has accused the police of obstruction and exacerbating the pain of his family. He has fought for nearly three decades for the truth about those who killed his brother, and those who shielded them. He said: “They have delayed and obstructed the panel.”

A senior backbench MP also criticised the Metropolitan police, blaming the force for delaying the start of the inquiry. Labour MP Tom Watson said: “It is extraordinary that a case involving police corruption has taken nearly two years to yield even a single document. Even for the Met it is a remarkable state of affairs.

“They are clearly refusing to cooperate with an inquiry that is in the public interest and has the authority of the home secretary.”

Police now say they have started handing over some documents, which are believed to run to more than 750,000 pages.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Daniel Morgan was murdered as he was allegedly about to expose police corruption. Photograph: Metropolitan police/PA

No one has ever been convicted of the murder and the first investigation into it was blighted by police corruption, the Met has accepted. Morgan says police are still trying to block further embarrassing questions and potential revelations coming out.

He said: “Our police were prepared to cover up the involvement of their own in a contract killing, which all the available evidence shows the victim was a whistleblower about police corruption.”

Daniel Morgan is believed by his family to have come across information about serious police corruption and to have approached a journalist to expose the officers and their potential criminal partners. He complained to his brother weeks before he was found dead in a car park in Sydenham, south-east London, about corruption in the Met. “He said, ‘They are all over the place down here,’” recalled Alastair Morgan, saying the private detective was concerned about a break-in at his house and business weeks before his death.

The panel established by the home secretary to investigate the case has no legal powers and cannot compel the handover of documents or testimony from witnesses. It is chaired by Nuala O’Loan, the former police ombudsman in Northern Ireland.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Jonathan Rees, Morgan’s business partner, was cleared of murder. Photograph: Rex Features

Morgan was a partner in a notorious private detective agency called Southern Investigations. It was used by the News of the World and police suspected it was involved with corrupt officers selling information.

One of those charged in relation to the death was a former detective, Sid Fillery, later acquitted of perverting the course of justice. After the murder he replaced Morgan at Southern Investigations to work alongside Jonathan Rees, who was tried for the murder and acquitted.

The inquiry potentially offers fresh embarrassment for Rupert Murdoch. In 2002, the NoW placed under surveillance the head of the Morgan murder investigation, former detective chief superintendent David Cook – allegedly on the orders of an executive.

The paper followed Cook, “blagged” his personal details from police databases, and tried to access his voicemail and that of his then wife.

Morgan said of the now-closed Sunday tabloid: “They’ve been a poisonous influence on the criminal justice system for years.”

Facebook Twitter Pinterest DCS Hamish Campbell has apologised to Morgan’s family for past police corruption. Photograph: Lewis Whyld/PA

The last attempt to convict anyone of the murder ended in 2011 after three people – including Rees – were acquitted without the case reaching a jury.

After the murder trial collapsed in 2011, the Met’s then head of homicide, DCS Hamish Campbell, apologised to the family for the past police corruption: “This current investigation has identified, ever more clearly, how the initial inquiry failed the family and wider public. It is quite apparent that police corruption was a debilitating factor in that investigation.”

Concern over the case led the government to establish the inquiry. It suffered an early delay when its original chair stood down for what were described as personal reasons.

A spokesperson for the Met said: “Since the home secretary’s announcement, the MPS has worked closely with the Home Office and Daniel Morgan independent panel to create a mechanism of allowing exceptional and full disclosure to the panel to enable them to achieve their aim of shining a light on the circumstances of this case and to introduce safeguards around disclosure of the material.

“It has been an extremely complex process for many reasons, including establishing the panel, the volume and nature of the material involved, and the fact there is no statutory framework to govern the disclosure process.

“Establishing this protocol has been essential to ensure the MPS can fulfil their legal obligations and safeguard the handling of the documentation.

“We are happy to confirm that the process between the panel and the MPS has now been agreed and material is now being passed to the panel.”