The brother and sister of murdered Harold Hill teenager Luke Harwood were devastated after his photograph was used in a presentation by police at their school.

Anthony Dray, Luke’s stepfather, said police have still not apologised for using the picture during an anti-violence assembly at Eastbrook School six months ago.

He said: “It is bad enough that they have to deal with their brother being murdered, they definitely shouldn’t have to deal with anything like that.

“[Barking and Dagenham] police have had plenty of time to send through an apology – it shouldn’t take six months.”

Luke, 18, was stamped to death last year by three of his housemates just hours after moving into a bedsit in Crow Lane, Romford.

The police’s visit to the Dagenham school was part of a roadshow warning pupils about how young people can become victims of crime.

Twins Serena and Aaron Harwood, 15, were in the school hall for the assembly when they saw a photograph of Luke on the first page of the police’s presentation.

Anthony, 52, said the family had moved from Harold Hill to Dagenham after Luke’s death to try to make it easier for Serena and Aaron to cope.

He said: “They were already struggling to come to terms with the death of Luke but what happened at the school just brought it all back.

“They came home that day and they were so upset, even now they still refuse to talk about it. It should never have happened.”

Valerie Dennis, headteacher of Eastbrook School, said that she was unaware that Luke’s photo was going to be used in the presentation.

She said: “It was a really unfortunate thing to happen.The material for the poster was checked by our school police officer but he doesn’t know the kids enough to know that Luke’s brother and sister attend the school.”

Police Superintendent Mike Hamer has pledged that all school presentations in the borough will be approved with teaching staff before the event.

He said: “The intention of police in raising awareness of crime in schools is always to promote and ensure the safety of local children, never to cause upset in any way.

“The family concerned in this unfortunate incident will be contacted by a police inspector who will apologise on behalf of the borough for any distress that they have suffered.”

Valerie added: “I have apologised to both Aaron and Serena.

“It is important that we show these presentations because they have a very hard-hitting message but the police need to double-check the names of the victims to see what school they went to and we don’t want to upset young people because they are very vulnerable.”

James Danby, 27, Emma Hall, 21, and Tony O’Toole, 30, were convicted of murdering Luke in April.