10-YEAR WAIT FOR SHEKU ANSWERS
»» Inquiry won’t hear cop evidence until spring 2022 »» Family face decade-long limbo before a conclusion
THE inquiry into the death of Sheku Bayoh may not hear all the evidence and produce recommendations until nearly 10 years after his death in police custody.
As he opened and adjourned the inquiry last week, its chairman Lord Bracadale noted there were 50,000 documents to read.
The hearing began five-and-a-half years after Sheku’s death and it’s understood it could take four years to hear all the evidence and produce recommendations.
Officers involved in the restraint that resulted in Sheku’s death in May 2015, and those who managed the aftermath, expect not to be called to give evidence before the spring of 2022 – nearly seven years after the death of SSheku, who was 31 and father to two young sons in Fife.
The trainee British Gas eengineer had been in the UK ssince he was 11, and had a son aaged six months with partner CColette Bell, and another, then fofour, by his ex, Connie Barcik.
Lord Bracadale hinted at a lelengthy process ahead, but his loloved ones, angry that the CCrown Of fice ruled out ccriminal charges before the ininquiry heard evidence, will bbe dismayed to learn a cconclusion is still years away.
An informed source said: “CCore participants have been ttold that it is possible the iininquiry won’t hear any eevidence at all in 2021.
“Key police witnesses are ccertainly not expected to be ccalled until March or April 22022 at the earliest.
“Given that, the number of wwitnesses likely to be called aand the number of parties to bbe represented it has been ssuggested that the inquiry will llast around four years.”
Opposition politicians hit oout, with Scottish Lib Dem lleader Willie Rennie saying: “The glacial pace of progress ffrom the Crown Office is uunacceptable no matter how ccomplex these matters mmay be.
“It is not good for the families or the officers to be left hanging like this.”
Scottish Conservative justice spokesman Liam Kerr said: “No one expects these inquiries to happen overnight but clearly it’s taken far too long to get things moving.”
The inquiry will hear evidence from a large number of witnesses and each can be cross-examined by the many legal teams involved.
Police Scotland will be represented, and Chief Constable Iain Livingstone is expected to have separate representation because any subsequent action for damages would be made against his office.
The Police Investigation and Review Commissioner, which took over the investigation into the death, will also be represented, as will the Scottish Police Federation, which advised and continues to represent its members.
The officers involved in the restraint are also entitled to independent representation, as are four of their senior officers who made decisions after the tragedy.
Sheku’s family will also be represented.
The inquiry team’s website makes no estimate of how long the inquiry will last.
The Crown Office said it appreciated that the time taken to conclude “this complex investigation was difficult for all those involved”.