Ricky Reel’s mother to ask judge for information on officer who spied on her family after son’s death – Surretcomet.co.uk

justiceforrickyreelLeave a comment

Ricky Reel’s mother is to meet with a senior judge to ask for more information about an undercover police officer who spied on her family.

Sukhdev Reel and her family were the subject of a secret police operation after Ricky’s death following what they believe to have been a racist attack in Kingston in 1997.

David Hagan, known as HN81, spied on the justice campaign, and Mrs Reel is asking for details other than his name to be released.

She said: “Just imagine 21 years from Ricky’s death, just a name in isolation is meaningless. It could be anybody’s name.

We feel that for the undercover name to mean anything to us after so much time has elapsed we need to know more: photographs, who he reported to, access to all the original files held on the family members and the campaign.

“Our family has been through hell for the past 21 years. We still don’t know who caused Ricky’s death.”

Brunel University student Ricky was on a night out when his group was attacked by two white men, and he disappeared as they fought the pair off.

His body was found in the Thames a week later, and police said his death was likely to have been an accident.

Mrs Reel is asking Sir John Mitting, the chairman of a public enquiry into undercover policing.

She said: “The inquiry for us is important because we need to know how much of the damage to the initial investigation was because of spying. The money they spent on spying, they should have used looking for Ricky’s killers.

“The public has a right to know if the investigation was bungled because police 

officers were there to spy and not to investigate Ricky’s death.”

David Hagan also secretly gathered information linked to the family of murdered teenager Stephen Lawrence.

The inquiry has an “ambitious” timeline, and a final report is expected in December 2023.

Original link

Open verdict in Ricky Reel case | Race | The Guardian

justiceforrickyreelLeave a comment

An open verdict was returned tonight by the jury at the inquest into the death of student Ricky Reel, whose body was found in the River Thames near Kingston, Surrey.

The nine member jury sitting at Fulham Town Hall, south west London, took 50 minutes to reach their unanimous verdict.

Coroner Dr John Burton delivering the verdict said: “Ricky ended up in the river in the early hours of the morning of October 15, 1997. There is not enough evidence to reach a conclusion as to how he came to an end – this is an open verdict.”

Earlier today, a senior detective in the investigation today said there was an “abundance of compelling evidence” to suggest that the student’s death was accidental.

Early in the investigation Mr Moffat, who has now retired from the Metropolitan Police South West Crime squad informed Ricky’s mother, Sukhdev Reel, that her son had plunged into the River Thames and drowned after standing on a crumbling river bank while trying to relieve himself when he was drunk, the inquest at Fulham Town Hall, south west London, heard.

Mr Moffat said: “What I was doing was being honest to people about the findings with regard to her son. “I was telling the truth that there was no evidence that there was anyone else associated with her son’s death but there was an abundance of evidence that this was a tragic accident.”

Mr Moffat claimed the bank, which was covered by a patch of foliage, was unstable and “in such a condition that your foot goes down and it crumbles away – it’s lethal.”

Ricky, 20, a computer science student of West Drayton, west London, was last seen in the early hours of October 15, 1997 after a night out with three friends in Kingston. They planned to go to a night club but got lost after parking their car near the river.

The four youngsters had been confronted by two white youths who shouted racial abuse at them and then two of Ricky’s friends were hit by the two men before they ran off, the inquest was told. That was the last time Ricky was seen. His body was found in the River Thames on October 21. Under cross examination from Michael Mansfield QC representing the Reel family, Mr Moffat strenuously defended the integrity of the investigation.

Original link