Sheku didn’t stomp a cop - new witness
Claims made on Panorama programme
A WITNESS in the Sheku Bayoh case says an alleged stamping attack on a female officer didn’t take place.
He claims he watched the distressing scenes that led to Bayoh’s death in police custody in 2015.
Police officers have given statements suggesting the 31-year-old, who was high on drugs, had violently stamped on the back of a female PC after punching her in the face – and one said he thought Bayoh had killed her.
Bayoh was restrained on the ground for five minutes before falling unconscious and died soon after.
On last night’s BBC Panoroma, Kevin Nelson said he watched from his Kirkcaldy home as Bayoh was restrained on the pavement. He claims he saw him try to walk away from officers, ignoring their commands, before being sprayed with CS spray. He then retaliated and punched a PC.
Asked if there had been any further contact with the PC, he said, “No. He was running off after the punch. There was no more attack on her at all.”
Nelson, who gave a statement to police, says Bayoh ran from where the PC went down and was intercepted by other officers. Two police officers provided statements to investigators 32 days after Bayoh’s death. They said he carried out a violent stamping attack on the PC while she lay on the ground.
One said: “He brought his right foot down in a full-force stamp onto her lower back.”
The other claimed: “I thought he had killed her.”
But Nelson said: “That never happened. I didn’t see him stamping at all or, other than the punch, any raised arms. After the punch, that was it.”
Nelson’s account is supported by CCTV footage that appears to show that once the PC is knocked down, the action appears to move away from her.
A Scottish Police Federation spokeswoman said it had seen “compelling material that Mr Bayoh did violently stamp on the back of a policewoman as she lay unconscious”.