AN activist supporting the mother of a boy who died in unexplained circumstances has asked the police watchdog to investigate the cops’ investigation into his death.

Stephanie Bonner, of the city’s Barmulloch, has publicly expressed her disappointment with the way the police handled their investigation into her son Rhys’ tragic death in August last year.

Now Alex O’Kane - who runs a local community group in North Glasgow - has written to the Police Investigations and Review Commissioner (PIRC) to look into how local cops handled their initial investigation into Rhys’ death.

Police Scotland’s Professional Standards Department is currently examining the handling of the 19-year-old’s death.

His body was found in marshland between Easterhouse and Gartloch Village in August 8, 2019. Police found “no criminality” around Rhys’ death.

We told in April how his grieving mother was looking for answers over the exact location where police discovered Rhys’ body.

She alleged at the time that a video showed Rhys’ “half-naked body” was dragged over 1000 feet by officers and questioned whether proper crime procedures were put in place when his body was found.

Stephanie is represented by Mr O’Kane in her dealing with the police.

In his letter to PIRC, he wrote: “The initial stage, which is still ongoing, is taking too long and all trust and faith has been lost with the officers involved and the Professional Standards Department.”

He has requested PIRC to take over the investigation, which would not normally happen until a Professional Standards investigation had concluded and found police wrongdoing.

But the police say their initial investigation had found no criminality surrounding Rhys’ death and that Stephanie’s complaint would be investigated by their internal standards team.

Head of Police Scotland’s Professional Standards Department, chief superintendent Andy McDowall, said: “We would like to extend our heartfelt sympathies to Stephanie Bonner following the death of her son Rhys Bonner.

“Rhys’ death was previously investigated by a dedicated team of officers who established no criminality, and a report was submitted to the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service.

“A complaint about the police has since been received from Rhys’ mother which is currently under consideration by staff within Professional Standards Department.

“My officers remain in regular contact with a nominated representative for the family in respect of the ongoing complaint investigation.”

A spokeswoman for PRIC said: “It is important that the relevant policing body has the opportunity to fully investigate any complaint and respond, prior to PIRC carrying out a review.

“Once a member of the public has received a final response from the policing body in question, they can then ask us to review how the complaint has been handled. However we are unable to carry out further investigation into the original complaint itself.”