Police have finally started a new investigation into the death of Ricky Reel in October 1997, nearly two years on. They have discovered CCTV footage of white youths shouting racist abuse at Ricky and his friends, a group of young Asian men on a night out, and are now appealing for members of the public who may have any further knowledge or information to come forward. So why has it taken so long for them to look at this footage or to consider it relevant in investigating his death?
Ricky's mother, Sukhdev Reel, has spent nearly two years speaking to anti-racist and union meetings around the country, asking why police failed to investigate Ricky's disappearance and death as a possible racist killing. Mrs Reel, her union branch, Hounslow Unison, and the Southall Monitoring Group launched the Justice for Ricky Reel Campaign, and this campaign has linked up with others, around deaths at the hands of racists and in police custody.
When Ricky didn't return home on the night of October 14, 1997, the police explanation of Ricky's death was that it was a drunken accident - he had fallen into the river while urinating into it.
They ignored the reports of the friends who had been with him earlier about being abused and attacked by racists, refused to investigate other theories, and concluded that no further investigation was necessary.
An independent pathologist hired by the family after the police had refused to look into the matter further found evidence in total contradiction of the police version of events, indicating that Ricky fell into the water backwards and that his bladder was full. He remarked that third party involvement could not be excluded.
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