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  1. Media Law
February 29, 2012

‘Seeds of hacking scandal were planted 25 years ago’

By Dominic Ponsford

More allegations surrounding the News of the World and the murder of Daniel Morgan are expected to be aired this afternoon at a House of Commons adjournment debate in Westminster Hall.

Former Crimewatch presenter Jacqui Hames claimed yesterday that she was placed under surveillance by the News of the World in order to subvert an investigation into the Morgan murder..

She said: “I believe that the real reason for the News of the World was placing us under surveillance was that suspects in the Daniel Morgan murder inquiry were using their association with a powerful and well-resourced newspaper to try to intimidate us and so attempt to subvert the investigation.”

Today Tom Watson MP is promising to outline new information about the five failed police investigations into the 1987 Morgan murder.

The debate has been called in support of representations by the Morgan family to the Home Secretary seeking a judicial inquiry into the police’s handling of the case.

On 11 March 2011 a prosecution of five men for involvement in the murder (including a former Met police officer, and a private detective who carried out work for several national newspapers including the News of the World ) collapsed at the Old Bailey.

Daniel Morgan’s brother Alastair said: ‘The seeds of the hacking scandal that is unravelling at the Leveson Inquiry were planted a quarter of a century ago in a car park in south-east London where my brother was murdered.

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‘This was the beginning of a deeply corrupt relationship between the Metropolitan Police and News of the World journalists. After his murder, Daniel’s private detective agency Southern Investigations became the hub or of industrial-scale police and press corruption.

‘We want to know how deeply this interfered with the five murder investigations and the political response to allegations of police involvement in the murder”.

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