POLICE are to probe the original investigation into the killing of private investigator Daniel Morgan 18 years after his murder.

The Metropolitan Police Authority unanimously voted to instruct Met Police Commissioner Sir Ian Blair to prepare an independent review into the killing.

The report will examine the failings of the murder investigation and the four subsequent police inquiries into it.

It will be followed by a review of the case papers by an independent barrister if either side is not satisfied with the report.

Alastair Morgan, 56, who has led the campaign to find his brother's killer, believes Daniel was murdered because he intended to blow the whistle on alleged police corruption.

The 37-year-old was found with an axe embedded in his head in the Golden Lion pub car park, Sydenham Road, Sydenham, on March 10, 1987.

Mr Morgan said: "I have no doubt the police were involved. We can only guess how far up the food chain this corruption ended."

There have been questions about the police's handling of the case ever since Daniel's body was discovered.

The four inquiries into the case have exposed many failings in the initial investigation.

These include the police only checking the alibi of one of the initial six suspects.

The victim's watch was stolen from the crime scene when it was under police control and one of the suspects, DS Fillery, was working on the murder investigation.

He was arrested on suspicion of being involved in the murder but released uncharged in 1987.

The inquiries failed to resolve allegations of Met Police involvement in the murder.

Mr Morgan said: "We feel we have been systematically misled by the police. It has been going on for 18 years and we do not think it is in the public interest for things to go on like this. Now somebody in authority is listening."

Metropolitan Police Authority chairman Len Duvall said: "There are a number of unanswered questions.

"An independent review, with a focused brief, would be a constructive way forward."