The mother of Ricky Reel has called on the Metropolitan Police to launch a public inquiry into undercover spying.
Sukhdev Reel, 65, whose son died after a night out in Kingston 17 years ago, was spied on by undercover Met police officers as she campaigned to find out what happened to him, it emerged this year.
Brunel University student Ricky, 20, vanished after going to Options nightclub on October 15, 1997.
He and his friends had been racially abused by a group of white men shortly before his disappearance.
His body was found in the Thames in Kingston a week later on October 21.
Mrs Reel has always believed her son was murdered as opposed to falling into the river, but police have never found evidence to support this claim.
On Tuesday she held a vigil outside Scotland Yard to mark the anniversary of her son’s body being found.
Mrs Reel said: “For years we have been fighting for justice and the police have one excuse after another – when his body was found there were no forensic tests.
“They lost the CCTV before watching it.
“They have wronged me. Just when I thought we were moving forward they bring it back.
“I am really angry. They were spying on me when I was heartbroken and at my lowest.
“They said they did not have the resources to investigate the disappearance but instead they spent the money spying on me.
“Ricky’s killers are not behind bars because they [the police] spent more resources on monitoring my movements rather than investigating the case.”
Mrs Reel has said Ricky’s disappearance was not treated seriously by Kingston police officers who initially suggested he may have run away from an arranged marriage or to be with a boyfriend.
She said: “At the time they thought that’s what all Asians do. It was like stereotyping.”
She said police in Kingston and her hometown West Drayton “passed her around like a football” and suggested the case came under the other force’s jurisdiction.
On finding out about being spied on, Mrs Reel said: “I felt like my whole world had fallen around me – those 17 years, it was like a flashback to 1997 when I was running around looking for my son.”
A police spokesman said: “The investigation into the death of Ricky Reel remains open and we would urge anyone with new information to contact the Metropolitan police.
“Any new information will be dealt with sensitively and anyone who wishes to remain anonymous can call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.”
Mrs Reel’s petition for an inquiry into police spying has 77,795 signatures.
It can be found at change.org.
Inconclusive evidence and failings
Two coroners have failed to find conclusive evidence Ricky was murdered.
But an investigation by the Police Complaints Authority (PCA) into Kingston police’s handling of the case took 15,000 hours to complete and cost around £125,000, using three times more resources than the investigation into the death itself.
The report said police failed in their duty and lacked sensitivity to minority cultures.
Officers were criticised for failing to record the racial incident immediately or filling out a missing persons form and for insensitivity when breaking the news of the discovery of Ricky’s body to the family.
It also founded allegations of neglect on the part of Police Constable Penman and Police Constable Lord – but no officers were reprimanded or charged with misconduct.
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Justice For Ricky Reel 