Murdered man's family speak of anger

The family of murder victim Michael Menson today told of their devastation after senior police officers escaped punishment for bungling the investigation into his death by taking retirement.

As full details emerged of police failings in the case, the Independent Police Complaints Commission revealed that only two of an 18-strong Metropolitan Police team will face disciplinary action.

Mr Menson, 30, from Southgate, the schizophrenic son of a Ghanaian diplomat, was doused with white spirit then set on fire in a north London street by a racist gang in 1997. He died just over two weeks later. Police initially concluded he had set himself on fire.

His family, who have pursued the case for seven years, are now considering a private prosecution against the senior officers. His sister Essie said: "We are very disappointed to have gone through the whole complaints process only to find the Police Complaints Authority can't act in any significant way against the senior officers responsible for these errors. We are certainly not interested in the junior officers being scapegoated."

A detective constable and a detective sergeant will be admonished, according to the IPCC. However, the others will be exempt because officers cannot face disciplinary charges after retirement.

The family say they were repeatedly assured there were no retirements pending. "We were led to believe there are procedures to prevent officers retiring when complaints are active," Ms Menson said. "We voiced our concerns time and time again, especially as the complaints investigation ran into months and years."

The IPCC insists it would have pressed for a disciplinary hearing against four

more officers had they still been in the service, and for an admonishment against another officer, now retired. Two more officers, from very senior ranks not covered under old police complaints rules, are understood to have been found at fault but have since retired.

The Home Office is considering a Met proposal that in future any officers taking steps to retire pending an investigation should be suspended and thus liable to face disciplinary action.

Mr Menson's brother Kwesi said: "We have waited years for an answer that might make sense of why officers were so bent on denying Mike had been murdered.

"Instead of acting on the evidence they concocted a suicide theory, tampered with evidence and had us, the family, investigated."

A Cambr idgeshire Police investigation report into the handling of the case concluded that police work after the murder was " unprofessional, unco-ordinated, in part negligent, and at best inept". It found that officers had failed to preserve the crime scene or take a statement from Mr Menson before he died.

The Met team insisted for 18 months that it was suicide. The 700-page report found police altered witness statements so they did not contradict the suicide theory.

Pressure from the Menson family led to the case being reopened and, in 1999, three men were convicted of killing the musician, who had hits in the Eighties as a member of the group Double Trouble.

Last year, the Crown Prosecution Service decided the failings of the Met were not "wilful or grave" enough to merit criminal proceedings. Now the Mensons are considering their next move. "We will have to think about it all as a family and take legal advice," said Ms Menson.

"Unless people are held to account, these racist attitudes and errors will be repeated."