London's beleaguered Metropolitan Police force on Wednesday apologised for "corruption" and paid damages in the decades-old case of a murdered private investigator found with an axe embedded in his skull.
The family of 37-year-old Daniel Morgan believe he had been about to expose a drugs network in south London which may have involved police corruption.
An official inquiry two years ago found the Met to be institutionally corrupt for prioritising its own reputation over uncovering wrongdoing in its ranks in the 1987 case.
"I unequivocally and unreservedly apologise for the failure of the Metropolitan Police Service to bring those responsible for the murder of Daniel Morgan to justice," Met commissioner Mark Rowley said in a statement on Wednesday.
The inquiry into the murder had been "marred by a cycle of corruption, professional incompetence and defensiveness that has repeated itself over and over again", he added.
Morgan was found murdered in the carpark of a south London pub in March 1987 with multiple head wounds after being repeatedly struck by an axe.
But despite five police inquiries and a coroner's inquest no-one has been brought to justice for the father-of-two's death and there have been persistent allegations that corrupt officers may have been involved.
The Met in 2021 accepted that corruption had been a "major factor" in the failed investigation after the damning findings of the official inquiry.
The latest apology and a confidential financial settlement, reported to be around £2 million, follows a civil claim brought by the family who have spent decades fighting for justice.
The apology is the latest in a string of highly damaging episodes for the UK's biggest police force.
In March, a review found it to be institutionally racist, sexist and homophobic.
The report, written by government official Louise Casey, was commissioned after the kidnap, rape and murder two years ago of a London woman, Sarah Everard, by serving Metropolitan Police officer Wayne Couzens.
Since then another officer, David Carrick, has also been jailed for life for dozens of rapes and sexual assaults stretching back two decades.
The Met revealed in January that 1,071 of its own officers had been or were under investigation for domestic abuse and violence against women and girls.