The force has apologised for 'distress' caused to Mr Gibney's family

Images of motorcyclist Mark Gibney, 40, from Merseyside, were shown at a road safety media briefing by North Wales Police chief Richard Brunstrom.

The force has apologised "for the distress caused by the publicity".

But Mr Gibney's family said the apology was "not good enough" and have called for Mr Brunstrom to be sacked.

Mr Gibney's brother Paul said: "[The apology] is closing the stable door after the horse has bolted.

"Whether the meeting was private or not makes no difference because it was immoral to show such photographs of my brother."

Mr Gibney's father William received the hand-delivered letter of apology from North Wales Police's assistant chief constable Ian Shannon

"We are still very angry and determined to take things further," he said.

Pictures of Mr Gibney - including one showing his head in his helmet, eyes open - were shown to journalists and road safety experts during a briefing on Thursday.

What he has done is totally outrageous and trying to blame journalists is nonsense William Gibney, father

North Wales Police admitted it had not sought the family's permission.

Mr Brunstrom claimed the pictures had been shown in confidence and accused some sections of the media of "distorting" the meeting.

On Sunday, four days after displaying the pictures, the force issued a statement.

It read: "North Wales Police have written to the family of Mark Gibney to apologise for the distress caused by the publicity that followed the Arrive Alive closed seminar on Thursday 26th April 2007.

"North Wales Police accepts and regrets that it made a mistake in believing that description of pictures shown to this invited audience would remain confidential.

"We are very sorry for the distress that has evidently been caused."

Speaking on Radio Wales, Malcolm King of the North Wales Police Authority also apologised to Mr Gibney's family but defended Mr Brunstrom's record saying the chief constable was "extremely committed" to making roads safer.

He said the authority would "want to know all the details involved" in the row but that this was a matter of course for them.

Mr Brunstrom said the images were shown in confidence

Mark Gibney was killed when his bike crashed on a bend on the B5105 between Cerrigydrudion and Ruthin in 2003.

The motorcyclist was not named during Mr Brunstrom's presentation but details of his distinctive T-shirt, which bore an anti-police message, were given.

The T-shirt received widespread publicity during his inquest, and effectively identified him to journalists.

On Saturday, Mr Gibney's father William, 64, said he could "never forgive" Mr Brunstrom and called for him to "be sacked".

He said he had tried his best to keep details of his son's horrific death from much of the family - but now everybody knew following the publicity the pictures attracted.

He added: "What he has done is totally outrageous and trying to blame journalists is nonsense.

"He's publicity-mad and what he has done to this family is appalling, and it won't have saved a single life."

Harrowing

Mr Brunstrom has been criticised by MPs and his former deputy for using the images.

But, writing in his weblog, he said those attending the anti-speeding briefing had been warned in writing they would be "briefly exposed to harrowing images".

The invitations to the media had said the images "were not, are not and will not be released into the public domain - a point emphasised verbally during the meeting," he wrote.

"They were included as a minor part of the presentation to counter the continuing tendency in some sections of our society to trivialise road death."