Sheku death probe to be ‘thorough and fearless’
A PUBLIC inquiry into the death of a man who was restrained by police will be ‘thorough and fearless’, according to its chairman.
Sheku Bayoh died in May 2015 after being arrested and held in Kirkcaldy, fife.
The 31-year- old’s family claim race played a part in his death and they criticised the subsequent investigation.
Their lawyer, Aamer Anwar, said the investigation had come at ‘great personal cost’ to his relatives and accused officials of ‘child-like denial’ of the existence of racism among the police force.
opening the inquiry yesterday, Lord Bracadale said he would scrutinise around 50,000 case documents.
Speaking in a video posted online, Lord Bracadale, retired senator of the College of Justice, said: ‘it has now been over five years since the death of Mr Bayoh and i, and my team, are conscious of the length of time this has hung over all involved, particularly the Bayoh family.
‘Preliminary discussions with some of the organisations involved lead us to believe that we will have in the region of 50,000 documents to scrutinise.
‘This will clearly take some time for my team to get through.’
He added: ‘Today we launch an investigation that will be thorough and fearless.
‘While the inquiry is funded by the Scottish government, i must stress that it will operate independently from the government or any other organisation.
‘it will be conducted with transparency and openness. Hearings will be broadcast so everyone can access the inquiry. As well as being independent, the inquiry is also entirely impartial.’
Lord Bracadale said it is not possible to determine the length of the inquiry but said witnesses would be called as part of public hearings set at a later date.
We previously told how ministers have refused to disclose the cost of the probe or how much Lord Bracadale will be paid.
The inquiry was announced l ast november by Justice Secretary Humza Yousaf, with its scope determined in May this year.
Mr Yousaf has also appointed Michael fuller and Raju Bhatt as assessors to support Lord Bracadale in the investigation.
Mr fuller is a former Her Majesty’s Chief inspector of the Crown Prosecution Service.
Before that he served 34 years as an officer in the Metropolitan Police Service and Kent Police, retiring as Chief Constable of the latter in 2010.
during his time in the Met, he was instrumental in setting up the Racial and violent Crime Task force and drew up the force’s action plan in response to criticism of institutional racism, arising from the inquiry into the Met’s investigation into the murder of black teenager Stephen Lawrence.
Mr Bhatt is an experienced lawyer, specialising in working with families who have lost a l oved one through a death in custody.
A statement from Mr Anwar, on behalf of Mr Bayoh’s family and his partner Collette Bell, welcomed Lord Bracadale’s opening comments while also appreciating the inquiry may now adjourn for many months.
He said: ‘fighting for a proper i nvestigation, never mind achieving meaningful change, has involved the Bayohs in enormous challenges and obstacles at great personal cost to the emotional and physical health of their family.
‘But they have refused over the five years to be lied to, patronised, marginalised or bullied by the likes of Kirkcaldy Police, the Police federation, Crown office or t he Pirc ( Police investigations and Review Commissioner).
‘Kadie Johnson, Sheku’s sister, has no doubt that the way he or her family were treated by the police and the justice system would not have happened had Sheku been white. Their treatment was compounded by repeated attacks from those who appear to remain in a childlike denial about the existence of racism in policing today.
‘Sheku’s loved ones fought for j ustice, but that word was betrayed by the Lord Advocate, so now all their hopes lie in Lord Bracadale delivering the truth.’
‘Great personal cost to family’