Response by police to death in custody under fire
Concerns over family’s claims of five accounts of what happened
A FORMER crime agency chief has criticised the police for the way they handled the case of man who died in custody, sparking a wave of protests.
Labour MSP Graeme Pearson, a former police officer and ex-director general of the Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency, said there should have a set planned response in place and available for senior police following the death of Sheku Bayoh.
Mr Bayoh, a father of two, died in custody after an incident in Kirkcaldy, Fife, in as yet unexplained circumstances involving up to nine officers.
A female officer was injured in the alleged incident a month ago.
Mr Pearson said a senior officer would have been expected to have been deployed to the scene at an early stage, and that there were concerns over the family’s claim that five accounts of what happened had been offered by officers.
He said: “From the outset Police Scotland should have had a senior officer on the scene to give some kind of account of the facts.
“There should have been a prepared report for the public and this was absent.”
Hundreds of people turned out at Mr Bayoh’s funeral last week in Kirkcaldy to support the family of the 31-year-old gas engineer whose death is now being investigated by the Police Investigations and Review Commissioner (PIRC).
However the new police watchdog was criticised after it said it was unable to question officers involved until weeks after the incident, although a legal representative for the police involved said they all would have been keen to cooperate from the outset but it was the responsibility of PIRC to declare the officers’ status and “that is a basic legal requirement” that had prevented this.
The family’s lawyer, Aamer Anwar, said: “The family have remained dignified but are full of rage because they are not asking for anything special. They are entitled to answers.”
Mr Bayoh’s mother Aminata Bayoh, who travelled from Sierra Leone after her son’s death, said: “We want the truth, nothing but the truth.”
It is understood an initial call related to a man armed with a knife.
Police Scotland has been embroiled in controversy since the death of Mr Bayoh.
A police division at the centre of the investigation into the death in custody was the subject of an
‘‘ From the outset Police Scotland should have had a senior officer on the scene to give some account of the facts
assault allegation nearly every two weeks last year.
During 2014 there were 22 allegations of police assault in the Fife area but Police Scotland has refused to reveal details of which police stations were involved.
It was also reported that residents living next to the place where Mr Bayoh was first held by police say that officers came back to search the area the day after his death.
People living nearby are said to have been questioned by detectives as well as the police watchdog. Police Scotland said they are unable to comment on the case while the investigation is ongoing.