Sheku death: Witnesses tell of man ‘with blade’
DRIVERS have spoken of the moment they came across a man who looked like he was carrying a knife on the day Sheku Bayoh died.
Harry Kolberg was driving in the Hayfield area of Kirkcaldy with his son Robeson the morning Sheku was pronounced dead after being restrained by officers.
An inquiry investigating the 31-year-old’s death heard that at about 7am on May 3, 2015, Harry and his son saw a man who appeared to be holding a knife walking directly towards them.
Footage captured on Harry’s dashcam played at the inquiry showed the man walking towards his car.
He said: “After we passed him, he (Robson) said, ‘Dad, he’s chasing the car, and it looks like he’s got a knife in his hand.’”
The inquiry was played a recording from a 999 call that Harry made after spotting the man.
When an officer asked him for a description of the man, he replied: “African origin, quite muscly build.”
David Grey, 62, was also at the scene the day Sheku was restrained by police.
David, who was driving a large white van shortly after 7am in Hayfield Road, said he spotted a man with “what appeared to be a knife blade” about 7in long walking towards his vehicle.
The witness said: “His eyes were very, very wide open and as he walked towards me, it was more like a march, like he was intent on going somewhere, on a mission type thing.
“When I see someone like that, the first thing I think is it’s drink or drugs that have caused their eyes to be so dilated and so open, and a fixed stare looking straight ahead.”
The inquiry, before Lord Bracadale, continues.