The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)

Bayoh needed medical help, says expert

-

Officers should have considered calling an ambulance for Sheku Bayoh as soon as they arrived on scene, an expert has said.

Joanne Caffrey, a use-of-force expert, told the official inquiry into the 31-year-old’s death, police are used to dealing with intoxicati­on and mental health crises and should recognise the signs.

The former police officer from Cumbria, on duty when masskiller Derrick Bird carried out his murder spree in 2010, said Mr Bayoh’s “bulging” eyes and the fact he was dressed in just a T-shirt despite the poor weather could have suggested he was under the influence of drugs or having a mental health episode.

The inquiry has heard from a witness who said Mr Bayoh had taken drugs the night he died.

A police witness has said he had “bulging eyes” when officers arrived.

Asked by Angela Grahame KC, counsel to the inquiry, what a “reasonable officer” would have done in the circumstan­ces, she said: “They would be thinking ‘this is someone under the influence of intoxicati­on and/or mental illness and I need to get them medical assistance’.

“So then ‘control (referencin­g the police control room) we need an ambulance’.”

She said she would then expect officers to engage with the subject, asking if they needed help.

 ?? ?? Joanne Caffrey.
Joanne Caffrey.

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from United Kingdom