Three Sussex Police officers are to face a misconduct tribunal for alleged failures in an unsolved murder inquiry.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) said a superintendent and two detective inspectors would appear before the hearing over their handling of the killing of Jay Abatan outside a Brighton nightclub in 1999.

A fourth officer, now with a new force, may also be disciplined and three more officers, two still with Sussex, will receive verbal warnings.

A total of 57 inconsistencies, failures and inexplicable decisions were highlighted in one investigation into the Sussex Police inquiry.

No one has been held to account for the murder of Mr Abatan, 42, who was waiting for a taxi with his brother Michael outside the Ocean Rooms in Morley Street when he was punched.

Accountant Mr Abatan, a father-of-two from Eastbourne, had been out celebrating promotion with PriceWaterhouseCoopers.

His head hit the pavement and he died five days later in hospital.

Two men were arrested within 24 hours of the attack but manslaughter charges were later dropped due to lack of evidence.

The two were charged with affray and causing actual bodily harm to Michael Abatan but were acquitted.

Complaints from Mr Abatan's family that the killing had not been investigated fully, prompted a review of the inquiry by Essex Police. It led to the original team of detectives being replaced.

A second review by Avon and Somerset Police found there had been failings such as not interviewing key witnesses.

In May, a report by the IPCC into the inquiry exposed errors in the early stages of the investigation.

Michael Abatan welcomed news of the tribunal but was angry over a refusal by Sussex Police to hand over its own official report into the investigation.

He said: "I knew early on that the investigation was not right and told Sussex Police. All I wanted was those who did this brought to account for what they did.

"When I raised my concerns with Sussex Police, I was told to be quiet. I also raised my concerns with the then home secretary, Jack Straw, who wrote back reassuring Jay's family that Sussex Police had carried out a thorough investigation.

"But even at this late stage, Sussex Police refuse to show the report which details how individual officers failed and why senior management allowed these failings to go on unchecked.

"Until our police force can investigate serious crime properly and be held accountable when things go wrong, I don't see how anyone can say lessons from the Stephen Lawrence inquiry have been learnt."

A spokesman for the Sussex Police Federation said that whatever the outcome, the delay in investigating the inquiry was "absurd".

He said: "This has taken well over five years.

"That can't be right for everyone concerned, Mr Abatan's family or the officers involved."

IPCC Commissioner David Petch said Sussex Police would be responsible for the misconduct tribunal.

He said: "I understand members of the family will be invited to attend and could be called as witnesses."

Sussex Police, which declined to name the officers facing the tribunal, has publicly apologised for their errors and a £175,000 reward remains in place for information leading to a conviction.