Sukhdev Reel: ‘A mother died and a campaigner was born’

Sukhdev Reel is the mother of Ricky Reel, who in October 1997 was found dead in the river Thames after a night out in which he was attacked by racist thugs. The police claimed his death was an accident, but Sukhdev has always believed he was murdered by those same youths who attacked him and his friends that night in Kingston, London. She told The Justice Gap Podcast about how she continues to campaign for justice for Ricky and then how police infiltrated her private life and devastated her family. For the first couple of episodes we are going to focus specifically on the so-called Spycops scandal. The first stage of a public inquiry looking into undercover police operations that spanned over 40 years finished a couple of weeks ago. In 2015, the then home secretary Theresa May announced the judge-led inquiry into “appalling practices in undercover policing”. In the next episode, you'll hear from Dave Smith, of the Blacklist Support Group.