A TOP police chief has apologised to the family of murder victim, Rhyan Wilson, for 'f'ailings' in the initial hours after his death.

Greater Manchester Police's apology relates to the force's delay in confirming Rhyan's death to his family and the lack of support provided to them in the early hours after his death as aresult

Assistant Chief Constable Ian Wiggett, said: “The death of Rhyan Wilson is a deeply-felt tragedy for his family and friends and our thoughts remain with them at this time.

“In the desperate hours after an incident like this, the public has every right to expect the highest levels of compassion and professionalism from the police.

“Unfortunately, in this case, we acknowledge that we let Rhyan’s family down and did not provide the level of support and information that we should have done.

“Yesterday I visited his family to offer our apologies. We have carried out a review of the service provided to the family and entirely accept that we failed the family in those initial hours.

“Clearly officers should always put victims and their families at the forefront of everything they do. This did not happen in this case.

“I assured the family that we will learn from this and will work hard to ensure that this does not happen again. We have recorded the failings as a hate incident based on the perceptions of members of Rhyan’s family and we will continue to work with the family of Rhyan to regain their confidence in Greater Manchester Police.

“Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust is supporting GMP with its investigation to find out exactly what happened and to make sure Rhyan’s family receive answers to any questions they may have.”