Despite five police inquiries, nobody has ever been successfully prosecuted in connection with his death.
In 2013, Theresa May, then the home secretary, ordered an independent review into the Met’s handling of the murder.
Published on Tuesday the long awaited 1,200 page report – which cost £16 million to produce – found that the original 1987 murder investigation had been beset by “very significant failings” from the moment of the discovery of Mr Morgan’s body.
As well as failing to secure the crime scene, the police had not sought alibis for all the suspects and had failed to follow numerous important lines of inquiry properly.
Detective Sergeant Sid Fillery was assigned to the case despite the fact he was close friends with the prime suspect Mr Rees.
The report identified a culture within the Met at the time in which it was not uncommon for officers to mix socially with people linked to crime, even drinking with them in pubs.
Some officers were also found to have been involved in “lucrative corrupt practices” such as selling confidential information to private detectives and journalists.
Southern Investigations was subsequently found to have close links to the News of the World, which was closed down in the wake of the phone hacking scandal.
But the report found no evidence to support the theory that Mr Morgan had been murdered because he was about to expose police corruption.
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