UK: Ricky Reel inquest returns open verdict
01 November 1999
The response of the criminal justice system to the Macpherson inquiry into the racist killing of Stephen Lawrence became clear at the inquest into the death of Ricky Reel at Fulham town hall in November. The jury's verdict of an open verdict, based on a lack of evidence, not only contradicted police claims of an accidental death but also upheld the claims of Ricky's family and friends on the "seriously flawed" original police investigation. The refusal to allow a critical Police Complaints Authority (PCA) report as evidence allowed the police counsel to object to any serious questioning of police witnesses. However, Ricky's mother, Sukhdev, said that the family felt "vindicated" by the coroner's jury verdict.
Ricky disappeared and was found dead in suspicious circumstances, after being racially attacked in Kingston town centre, in October 1997 (see Statewatch vol 8 no 1). In the first week of his disappearance the police took no action, and his family and friends carried out searches and interviewed witnesses. A week later Ricky's body was removed from the Thames after what police described as an accident; they refused to investigate other theories despite serious concerns raised about their investigation.
Given the police response the family instigated a complaint against them and an investigation was undertaken by Surrey constabulary under the supervision of the PCA. The report was completed in1998 and early this year was shown to the family and their solicitor on condition that its contents were not divulged to the public. The family continue to demand that the report be published but it is owned by the Metropolitan police who refuse to release it, erroneously advising the Home Secretary that it is covered by Public Interest Immunity (PII). This issue was raised by the Labour MP, John McDonnell, in speech at the House of Commons on October 20.
Observing that "our policing system has failed the Reel family" McDonnell went on to assert that as important as incompetence was the "culture of secrecy" that permeated, and continues to permeate, the force:
"the culture of defensive secrecy...still pervades our policing system [and] clearly undermined and continues to undermine, the confidence of the Reel family in the capacity of the police to appreciate and respond to their needs."
In particular McDonnell points to the failure to publish the PCA report, drawing attention to the recommendations of the Macpherson report which clearly stipulate the need for openness and transparency in Recommendation 10:
"investigating officers reports resulting from public complaints should not attract Public Interest Immunity as a class. They should be disclosed to complainants, subject only to the 'substantial harm' test for withholding disclosure"
The Metropolitan police argument that the report is covered by PII is undermined further by the ruling in a case concerning the West Midlands police where it was established:
"that there was no general public interest immunity in respect of documents coming into existence during investigation into a police complaint."
As the PII "defence no longer exists" McDonnell felt justified in summarising the report, listing important conclusions reached by the inquiry. "Overall", he said;
"the report condemns the [original police] investigation because it lacked focus, it eliminated the racial incident earlier in the evening too readily, it lacked thoroughness, and there was a failure to initiate an early reconstruction of what happened that night. There was also confusion over the ownership of the investigation of the racial incident. The investigators came to the conclusion of accidental death before there was any corroboration, and there was a failure to adopt the policies that would have ensured that professional standards were
maintained in the detail of the investigation."
McDonnell's summary of the report effectively summarised the criticisms of the Reel family. He als