We had the absolute honour of meeting Sukhdev Reel. We have been messaging for years and supporting her campaign on social media but never have had the opportunity to meet in person.
In 1997, she lost her son Ricky Reel to what she says was racist murder in Kingston-Upon-Thames. Despite the family’s pleas, the local police did not conduct further investigation into the case and wrote it off as an accident. Then, in 2014, Sukhdev learnt that she and her family had been spied upon for years and her name appeared in 10 undercover police reports because the Reels had spoken out against the police and demanded an investigation into Ricky’s death.
Ricky was a 20-year-old student when he disappeared while on a night out with friends. They had been attacked by two white youths shouting, “P**is go home.” The friends ran in different directions; while others reached home, Ricky didn’t. A week later, his body was found in the Thames. The police maintained that he must have drowned after falling in the river while going to the area to urinate but the family demanded an investigation. They said the police didn’t take his death seriously because they were Asian.
The police denied the charge, but the long-delayed inquiry into abuses in undercover policing operations suggest that there were several lapses on the part of the police.
When the family reported Ricky missing, the Kingston police officer suggested he might have run away with a girlfriend or boyfriend because the family had arranged a marriage for him. Ricky’s siblings – his sister Tish was 17 and brother was 11 years old – were given the news bluntly in the absence of their parents: “We’ve found your brother’s body at the bottom of the river.”
Tish was present too and shared what it’s been like to watch her mother fighting for justice for 25 years. There was not a dry eye in the room and we felt the full depth of this family’s pain and fight.
I promised them that we would do all we can in our own small way to help elevate their voice.
Here are five ways you can support Sukhdev and her campaign:
1. Visit and share the website
2. Listen, share and comment on the song for Ricky by Rishi Rich, Ameet Chana and Kiranee: Justice For Ricky Reel
3. Sign the Petition
4. Buy her Book
5. Leave a review of the book on Good Reads and Amazon
6. Email your MP, and copy in the London Mayor and her MP, and ask them to support the Early Day Motion No 495 raised by her MP John McDonnell seeking a fresh investigation – the early Day Motion reads:
“That this House continues to expresses its heartfelt sympathy with the family of the late Lakhvinder Ricky Reel who died in suspicious circumstances in 1997 after being racially attacked in Kingston, Surrey; is appalled to learn that his family were spied upon by undercover police officers; acknowledges that over 100,000 people have signed a change.org petition urging a new police investigation; urges the Home Secretary to reopen the case to examine the circumstances surrounding Ricky’s death on public interest grounds and to welcome the naming of a day in his honour as a mark of respect.”
You can find the details of your local MP here. The email address for John McDonnell MP is mcdonnellj@parliament.uk. The Mayor at mayor@london.gov.uk and suella.braverman.mp@parliament.uk
I went home on Friday with an urge to cry and scream at the injustice this family has experienced (and I did that) then to focus my efforts on supporting them. I hope you can join these efforts too.