A mum has been given fresh hope by police reviewing their investigation into the death of her son 25 years after he was found at the bottom of the River Thames.
On October 14 1997, Ricky Reel went missing after he and his friends, who are all South Asian, were subjected to a racist attack by two white men.
Ricky, 20, from West London, and his pals all ran in different directions and he was never seen again.
His body was found seven days later. His mum Sukhdev Reel has always maintained the racial element was never taken seriously and the police's prejudical views about South Asians severely impeded any progress to the investigation.
No one has ever been arrested or charged in connection with Ricky's death.
After spending a 25th Christmas without Ricky, Mrs Reel has been told the police will now take a look at her son's case with "fresh eyes".
Speaking to the Mirror today, Mrs Reel said she is hopeful but remains cautious.
She said: "The new commissioner has been saying he's keen to deal with racism and we think it's really important to see what he's going to do.
"In Ricky's case, there was racism and the lack of a proper investigation. I am hoping now we can come to some sort of closure of finding out what happened to Ricky and why
"There is always hope. That is the only thing that has kept me going for the last 24 years.
"I have been down this road so many times only to get hurt so many times. His actions will tell us, not his words. so his actions will tell us
"We just want to find the truth and it's only right we get justice after being treated as second-class citizens. Hope is what is keeping me alive."
It comes after Mrs Reel told previously The Mirror she was contacted by someone in July 2021 claiming to know who killed her son and that the fatal attack was racially motivated.
She passed that information to the police with demands to speak to the new Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley.
If this new information proves to be credible then the campaign can apply to reopen the inquest.
Mrs Reel and members of the Justice for Ricky Reel campaign met with Sir Mark Rowley on January 11.
It marked the first time the family had been afforded a meeting with the Commissioner since Ricky's death 25 years ago.
On Monday, Mrs Reel said she received an email from the force confirming they are "looking more closely at certain lines of enquiry from the original investigation".
The email adds: "These lines of enquiry are being followed up with fresh eyes and the benefit of modern technology so we can explore every possible avenue in the hope of providing answers to Ricky's family."
The Metropolitan Police's Major Inquiries Specialist Casework team will be conducting the investigation.
Ricky's case has remained open after a jury inquest ruled an "open verdict" in 1999, meaning the case cannot be closed until a firm conclusion has been reached.
Mrs Reel said jurors didn't hold back in listing the failures of the police and the spying on the campaign, which was deeply traumatic and led to a breakdown in trust with the police.
In a statement, Mrs Reel said: "We've waited 25 years for justice. I hope the police under the leadership of the new Commissioner can finally approach this case with an open mind and make every effort to obtain justice for my son.
"When dealing with racism and injustice, the litmus test is always in their actions and not in promises."
A Met Police spokesperson told the Mirror: "The Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley met Ricky’s family on 11 January. The details of this meeting remain private.
"The Met’s Major Inquiries Specialist Casework team has re-examined the case and is now looking more closely at certain lines of enquiry from the original investigation.
"These lines of enquiry are being followed up with fresh eyes and the benefit of modern technology so we can explore every possible avenue in the hope of providing answers to Ricky’s family."
The development comes in the wake of the family learning of multiple failures by the police conduct of the case in the past 25 years.
At at the time of Ricky's death, police concluded that he had fallen into the Thames accidentally while trying to urinate and must have drowned.
However, it later emerged at the inquest that police did not collect any forensic evidence from the scene or from Ricky's clothes.
Police made the assumption about Ricky had fallen in while urinating because the buttons on his jeans were open. However, the inquest heard from family and experts that Ricky had a phobia of open water and that it was common for clothes to open and loosen in water.
The inquest heard that police did not collect vital CCTV in time or speak to potential witnesses until months after Ricky's death - meaning any chance of finding crucial clues was missed.
Mrs Reel has maintained that police did not take the case seriously and failed to gather crucial evidence because of Ricky's race.
She previously told The Mirror: "They (police) didn't prioritise it from day one. They didn't believe us.
"They belittled us simply because of the colour of my skin. Had I been white the treatment would have been very different.
"They never believed the racial attack happened. They never connected it."
In 1998, a Police Complaints Authority (PCA) report (now the Independent Office for Police Conduct) - which has never been made public - found there were "weaknesses" within the organisation that led to the "neglect" from the investigating officers.
John McDonnell, Mrs Reel's Labour MP for Hayes and Harlington, used his parliamentary privilege to reveal the contents of the report in the House of Commons in 1998.
In 2014, Mrs Reel and the campaign were notified that they had been under surveillance as part of "collateral intrusion".
On the 25th anniversary of Ricky's death, the police put out a renewed appeal.
John McDonnell, the Labour MP for Hayes and Harlington, said: "This will be a test for the Met on whether there is evidence of real change in its attitude and behaviour towards the Asian community and wider society.
"Our hope is that this time around no stone will be left unturned in search for the truth and justice for Ricky Reel."
Mike Schwarz, the family solicitor, said: "I hope that this meeting will mark a turning point: the creation of a virtuous circle whereby the police now investigating Ricky's death and the Undercover Policing Inquiry work not only with each other but also with the Reel family.
"We hope they will finally establish how Ricky met his death, bring account to anyone responsible and explain why and how, at the time they were supposedly investigating Ricky's death, the Metropolitan Police were spyingo on the family."
Police urge anyone with information to contact them on 101 or the independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously at 0800 555 111.
Mrs Reel's book Rick Reel: Silence Is Not An Option can be bought here.
