Police issue appeal 25 years after Ricky Peel’s death
MOTHER ALLEGES SHE WAS SPIED ON BY MET OFFICERS BECAUSE OF HER ETHNICITY
THE Metropolitan Police last Friday (14) made a fresh appeal for information regarding the death of Ricky Reel in Kingston in 1997 as his family alleged that “race played a role” in his death.
According to the family, racism was a major factor in the tragedy. The 20-year-old’s body was found in the river Thames, a week after he had been racially abused in London.
Reel’s mother, Sukhdev Reel, has been campaigning for the past 25 years to get answers about her son’s death.
In 2014, it was emerged that officers from the Met’s Special Demonstration Squad (SDS) had spied on Sukhdev when she was contacted by officers from Operation Hern, which is examining the practices of undercover policing.
The British Indian alleged that police targeted her because of her ethnicity. “We have every right to ask for justice, same as everybody else. So why was it that I was the only one picked up – asking for justice? Was it because of my colour? I know my race, my colour, my religion, my caste, all played a big part in this case. I was treated like a secondclass citizen,” Sukhdev was quoted as saying by the BBC.
On the 25th anniversary of Ricky’s disappearance last Friday, she said that she felt “unwell” after finding out that officers spied on them.
“I came around and they said, ‘don’t worry it’s just collateral intrusion, it’s not spying’. Later when we discovered we were [being spied on], we asked for proof of that,” she added.
Sukhdev revealed she and her daughter Trish were now core participants in the latest inquiry.
According to media reports, Ricky had been out drinking with friends on October 14, 1997, and his body was found in the River Thames a week later.
In its fresh appeal, the Met said an inquest in 1999 into Ricky’s death had returned an open verdict.
“No arrests have been made, or charges brought in connection with Ricky’s death,” it said.
The Met also ruled out the claim that officers had targeted any family members associated with the campaign, or the campaign itself.
According to police, Ricky and three friends had been planning an evening in a local nightclub.
“As they walked through the town centre in Kingston, two white men, aged between 18 and 30, saw Ricky and his friends and shouted racial abuse. There was an altercation between Ricky’s friends and the men – but Ricky did not get involved and he walked away on his own and disappeared,” the Met said in a statement.
“Tragically, his body was found in the Thames at the end of Downhall Road on October 21, 1997,” the statement added.
Commander Catherine Roper from Specialist Crime said: “It has been 25 years since Ricky died. My thoughts are with Ricky’s family and the pain they must still feel today.
“I hope that this appeal will encourage people to come forward with any piece of information they may have, however small they think it is, to help us piece together what happened that night in Kingston.
“We remain hopeful that we can provide answers for the family, and we need the help of the public to achieve this.’”
The Met has urged anyone with information to contact the police on 101 or the independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.