The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Police ‘were trusted’ after Bayoh death
Aformer police inspector has said she believes there was no adverse reaction in the days following Sheku Bayoh’s death because the community “trusted the police”.
Jane Combe, 52, who retired from the force three years ago, told an inquiry into the 31-year-old’s death that there was no perception in the community of “a big cover-up” by Police Scotland.
Mr Bayoh died in handcuffs and sustained multiple injuries after officers responded to calls from the public about a man brandishing a knife and behaving erratically on a Sunday morning in Kirkcaldy, Fife, in May 2015.
His family believe race played a part in his death.
When senior counsel to the inquiry Angela Grahame QC asked Ms Combe why she believed this at the time, she replied: “It’s based on the fact that there were no demonstrations or protests bar one that I am aware of.”
When asked to give more detail on the one event she remembers in response to Mr Bayoh’s death, she described the moment his family came to Kirkcaldy police station.
“That was for me a very peaceful, dignified one, more like a vigil opposed to a demonstration,” she told the inquiry.
Ms Grahame asked: “You’ve said the local community trusted police... was that the local black community?”
The witness replied: “All community.”
Claire Mitchell QC, acting on behalf of the Bayoh family, made a submission to the inquiry to question the witness further on her answers.
She asked Ms Combe to give more detail on the one event in Fife which she could remember in the wake of Mr Bayoh’s death.
The inquiry heard it was a large-scale march that stopped outside Kirkcaldy police station.
Ms Mitchell said demonstrations and protests can be peaceful and legal, adding: “The inquiry will come to hear that there will be evidence that the Bayoh family in fact stood with a banner that said ‘We Want Answers’ and ‘Without Truth There Can Be No Justice’.”
Earlier, the inquiry saw a statement from Ms Combe in which she said: “Following the tragic incident (Mr Bayoh’s death), there were concerns that there would be a negative and adverse reaction from the ethnic minority in Fife and a breakdown in our engagement with these communities which could manifest in demonstration and protest, however due to the continued positive community engagement and dialogue, this was avoided.”
The inquiry, before Lord Bracadale, continues.