THE family of a Cwmbran private detective who was murdered 30 years ago are “outraged” after the report into his death was delayed by the Home Office.

Earlier this evening, it was revealed that the report – due to be published on Monday – was going to be delayed after Home Secretary Priti Patel intervened for a review of the document to be done – with the possibility of some of its contents being taken out.

In a statement through Bhatt Murphy Solicitors, the family said it was unwarranted.

The statement reads: “The family had been given every reason to believe that the Panel’s report was to be published on May 24 with the agreement of all concerned up to and including the permanent secretary at the Home Office. However, it appears that the Home Secretary has decided, very belatedly, to prevent the publication of the Panel’s report until she and her lawyers have reviewed its contents.

“This unwarranted and very belated interference by the Home Secretary amounts to a kick in the teeth for us as the family of Daniel Morgan. We have been living through the torture of waiting to see the Panel’s report over the last several years, months and weeks. We have been waiting for the report so that we might understand for ourselves the sorry saga of police corruption and repeated failures to confront that corruption behind the failed investigations over the decades since the murder in 1987.”

The statement goes on to say the Home Office was complicit in the corruption throughout the decades until the Panel was established.

They also say how the intervention goes against the Panel and what they were there to do – conduct an independent review into the murder of the father-of-two and the involvement of corruption in the Metropolitan Police and those involved in the investigation.

It is said the Panel’s report was to feature a large section relating to police corruption. The case was given more prominence earlier this year when it was referenced in hit BBC drama series Line of Duty in a storyline exploring themes of police corruption.

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The statement continues: “For us as the family of Daniel Morgan, the Home Secretary’s belated and unwarranted interference in this process is simply unacceptable. We call on her, even at this late hour, to try to understand her limited role in the relation to the Panel and the need for sensitivity and basic human decency in the exercise of her powers, mindful of the unending distress she is causing to each and every member of our family.”

Mr Morgan’s body was found on March 10, 1987 in the Golden Lion pub in Sydenham, south-east London after he was killed with an axe. He had been investigation alleged corruption in the Metropolitan Police force. No one has ever been convicted of his murder. Three people were charged but later acquitted.

The Daniel Morgan Independent Panel said in a statement earlier this evening: “This review is being sought on the basis of the Home Office ensuring the report’s compliance with the department’s obligations under the Human Rights Act 1998 and for reasons of national security.

“The Home Office advised it would make redactions if it did not consider the report complied with these obligations.

“A review of this nature has not been raised previously in the eight years since the panel was established in 2013.”