By Indigo Jones

Copyright walesonline

ITV’s latest true crime series, The Hack, delves into two significant cases that remain etched in public memory. The programme examines the News of the World phone hacking controversy from the early 2000s, while simultaneously exploring the unresolved Daniel Morgan killing dating back to 1987. The murder investigation was revived in the early noughties following Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Ian Blair’s admission that the initial inquiry had been “compromised.” Detective Superintendent David Cook was then brought in to lead the fresh review. He famously described the killing as “one of the worst-kept secrets in south-east London,” asserting that “a whole cabal of people” were aware of those responsible. For the latest TV and showbiz gossip sign up to our newsletter . But who exactly is former Met Police Detective Chief Superintendent Dave Cook? Speaking to STV about portraying the character, Robert Carlyle explained: “He started off on the Glasgow Police force, worked his way up through the ranks in Glasgow… but he became a Detective Chief Superintendent in the Met. “When you join the story he has been asked to take charge of what was the fourth investigation into the Daniel Morgan murder. He takes care of the fourth and fifth investigation in fact. “Dave is, and I spoke to him several times, a good man, you know a very honest upright kinda guy. It was about fight for justice for the Morgan family, for him, because that family went through hell.” Daniel Morgan, a private investigator from Monmouthshire , was found with an axe lodged in his head in the car park of the Golden Lion pub in south London in 1987. At the time of his tragic demise, Mr Morgan and his business associate Jonathan Rees ran Southern Investigations, a detective agency that did extensive work for the News of the World newspaper. Alastair Morgan, Daniel’s brother and a long-time critic of police mishandling, expressed confidence in Cook’s leadership when he reopened the investigation in the early 00s. In 2006, Jennette Arnold, a member of the Metropolitan Police Authority and Alastair’s London Assembly representative, referred to the unresolved case as “a reminder of the old police culture of corruption and unaccountability.” During the renewed investigation, covert listening devices were placed in Glenn Vian’s home before officers re-arrested Morgan’s former business partner Jonathon Rees, ex-Detective Sergeant Sidney Fillery, Glenn and Garry Vian, along with a builder named James Cook, all on suspicion of murder. A serving police constable was also taken into custody for allegedly leaking confidential information. Sidney Fillery faced another arrest on suspicion of attempting to pervert the course of justice. In 2009, the trial of Jonathan Rees, Sidney Fillery, the Vian brothers, and James Cook began at the Old Bailey. However, the case quickly began to unravel and in March 2011, the then Director of Public Prosecutions, Sir Keir Starmer, officially abandoned the prosecution. The case never reached a point where guilt or innocence could be established in relation to Daniel Morgan’s murder, becoming entangled in complex preliminary issues. In The Hack, Eve Myles portrays English journalist, television presenter and former police officer, Jacqui Hames. She was married to Detective Chief Superintendent Dave Cook during the re-opened investigation of the 1987 Daniel Morgan murder case. Jacqui, who presented the BBC programme Crimewatch from 1990 until 2007, was a close friend of the late presenter Jill Dando, who was tragically shot dead on her London doorstep in 1999. In 2002, Dave Cook appeared on Crimewatch to appeal for information about the unsolved Daniel Morgan case. Shortly after his appearance, the family found themselves under surveillance by News of the World. Throughout the series, we witness the couple’s marriage deteriorate due to the pressures of the case and the trauma it unearthed for Jacqui. Both Dave and Jacqui, along with their two children, were pursued by reporters during this time. Jacqui later testified at the Leveson Inquiry in 2012, which investigated the phone hacking scandal involving News of the World. In an article penned for CNN that same year, she detailed her experience and the toll it took on her marriage to the DCS. She revealed: “When I was informed last year by police that my phone had been hacked by News of The World, I was very angry, but not altogether surprised. I was by then all too familiar with the way that tabloid newspapers thought nothing of invading my privacy, if they thought there might be a story in it.” Jacqui went on to say: “In 2002, Crimewatch was sent an email suggesting that I was having an affair. Strangers phoned my husband’s work, attempting to find out our home address and other personal and financial details. Two vans stationed outside our house followed my husband taking the kids to school . By this stage, we feared we were being stalked by the people responsible for the murder. “We took our house off the market, and warned our daughter’s headmistress of the risks of strangers hanging around the school. I became very distressed and anxious. The stress that we endured over the subsequent years contributed to the eventual breakdown of my marriage.”