Ricky Reel's mother is to meet with a senior judge to ask for more information about an undercover police officer who spied on her family.

Sukhdev Reel and her family were the subject of a secret police operation after Ricky's death following what they believe to have been a racist attack in Kingston in 1997.

David Hagan, known as HN81, spied on the justice campaign, and Mrs Reel is asking for details other than his name to be released.

She said: "Just imagine 21 years from Ricky's death, just a name in isolation is meaningless. It could be anybody's name.

"We feel that for the undercover name to mean anything to us after so much time has elapsed we need to know more: photographs, who he reported to, access to all the original files held on the family members and the campaign.

"Our family has been through hell for the past 21 years. We still don't know who caused Ricky's death."

Brunel University student Ricky was on a night out when his group was attacked by two white men, and he disappeared as they fought the pair off.

His body was found in the Thames a week later, and police said his death was likely to have been an accident.

Mrs Reel is asking Sir John Mitting, the chairman of a public enquiry into undercover policing.

She said: "The inquiry for us is important because we need to know how much of the damage to the initial investigation was because of spying. The money they spent on spying, they should have used looking for Ricky's killers.

"The public has a right to know if the investigation was bungled because police officers were there to spy and not to investigate Ricky's death."

David Hagan also secretly gathered information linked to the family of murdered teenager Stephen Lawrence.

The inquiry has an "ambitious" timeline, and a final report is expected in December 2023.