Police ‘ lied’ about death in custody of young dad, says family
THE family of a young father who died in police custody claim officers lied to them about his death.
Sheku Bayoh’s family say they were given five different versions of events after he died following his arrest by at least nine police officers.
Mr Bayoh, 31, was detained on May 3 in Kirkcaldy, Fife, after police responded to reports of a man brandishing a knife.
He subsequently died under circumstances which remain unclear and are now the subject of an independent investigation by the Police Investigations and Review Commissioner (PIRC).
Last night, amid an increasingly bitter row, the Scottish Police Federation’s legal adviser said the first woman officer on the scene had been chased, punched, kicked and stamped on and feared she was about to be murdered.
Yesterday, the family’s solicitor Aamer Anwar said police had initially told them they did not know what had happened, then said Mr Boyah – originally from Sierra Leone – had been found lying in the
‘This approach beggars belief’
street by a member of the public. ‘Following Sheku’s death, five different versions of events were given to the family by Police Scotland officers over the course of ten hours until they were finally told he died in police custody. That is a matter of grave concern,’ said Mr Anwar at a press conference in Edinburgh.
According to the family, it was not until ten hours later that police finally told Mr Bayoh’s partner, Collette Bell, he had died in custody.
Mr Anwar said nine uniformed officers and two CID officers had restrained Mr Bayoh.
‘Mr Bayoh was detained and restrained with handcuffs to the rear and leg restraints, following which he lost consciousness,’ he added. ‘CPR was attempted at the scene, an ambulance called and he was officially pronounced dead at the Victoria hospital at 9.04am.’ Mr Anwar said it was his understanding that none of those officers at the scene had yet made a statement to the investigation.
‘This approach is simply beggars belief and prolongs the agony of Sheku’s family’, he said.
Mr Anwar called for the officers involved in the incident to be ‘suspended without prejudice’, saying it would ensure ‘neutrality, integrity of the investigation, transparency as well as protecting officers involved in such incidents’. Mr Bay- oh’s eldest sister, Kadijartu Johnson, 37, said: ‘At this point in time our family is heartbroken. We are not able to grieve. His body is still in the mortuary all alone. I still cannot believe that Police Scotland chose to lie to my family just hours after my brother’s death.
‘Even at 3pm on Sunday they were claiming that they were looking for two people and that a member of the public had found Sheku lying on the street.’
After the press conference yesterday Mr Anwar and Mr Bayoh’s fam- ily met Lord Advocate Frank Mulholland, who had instructed the PIRC to take on the investigation.
Last night, the Scottish Police Federation spoke out claiming that a female officer had also been ‘badly injured’ in a ‘vicious and unprovoked attack,’ which took place before Mr Bayoh was detained.
Professor Peter Watson of PBW Law, who acts for the federation, said: ‘Whilst it is deeply regrettable that Mr Bayoh lost his life, I would ask the media and public to remember that a petite female officer was chased and then subjected to a violent and unprovoked attack by a very l arge man who punched, kicked and stamped on her.
‘ The officer believed she was about to be murdered and I can say that, but for the intervention of the other officers, that was the likely outcome.
‘We all seek the truth and part of that truth will lie in part in the post- mortem and t oxicology reports which will follow in due course.
‘Calls for the suspension of the officers serve no purpose and do nothing, but add unhelpful rhetoric in a difficult situation for all.’
The PIRC said that it could not comment at this time, and the investigation was continuing.