Joint statement from Cressida Dick, Assistant Commissioner Metropolitan Police Service and Alison Saunders, Chief Crown Prosecutor of CPS London

21/05/2012

The Metropolitan Police Service and Crown Prosecution Service have today, Monday 21 May, released their joint review commissioned in March 2011 following the withdrawal of the most recent trial into the murder of Daniel Morgan.

This case, as the trial judge said, was of an exceptional scale and complexity, with over three quarters of a million documents gathered over 20 years being examined. The issues around the disclosure exercise were such that we could not guarantee that all relevant material had been identified, considered and disclosed so as to ensure a fair trial. A further factor related to the unreliability of critical witnesses.

To this end, the purpose of the review was to identify potential good practice and learning for both police and prosecutors for future cases.

What the review was not was an investigation into allegations of corruption; nor was it intended to serve the purpose of an investigation for police disciplinary purposes.

Those recommendations identified within the review will now be implemented by both agencies.

The joint report is available on the MPS website, and here on the CPS website (PDF document, approx. 488kb). 

Ends