Ex-officer said he feared ‘Lee Rigby’ episode

Aformer police officer involved in arresting Sheku Bayoh said he feared he was going to be killed in a “Lee Rigby incident”.

Alan Paton was first on the scene after multiple calls Mr Bayoh was in the street in Kirkcaldy with a knife. Although there was no knife in sight when he arrived, Mr Paton said he believed he could have had one concealed.

He tried to use CS spray on Mr Bayoh, but it blew back into his face and he ended up curled behind a police van as the chaotic arrest continued.

The UK terror alert level was at severe, and Mr Paton said he took the possibility of terrorism into account during every call regarding a knife. The now-retired former officer, who still has PTSD, said: “I had visions of the Lee Rigby incident – just blood everywhere.

“I was curled up waiting for something to come down on the back of my neck or something to be stabbed in my neck.

“I thought, genuinely, I was a goner.”

Fusilier Lee Rigby was run over and then stabbed to death by terrorists in 2013. Mr Paton added: “I expected a meat cleaver or a knife in the side of the neck. Then I started to have the thoughts, ‘am I going to get home from my shift tonight? Am I going to see my wife again? Am I going to see my kids again?’”

Mr Paton, 48, was giving evidence to the inquiry into Mr Bayoh’s death in custody on Hayfield Road, Kirkcaldy, in May 2015.

He said when he first found the 31-year-old, his only thought was to protect the public, police and Mr Bayoh himself.

He said there had been a rumour around Kirkcaldy Police Station a “lone wolf ” was going to target a female officer.

He said: “I was aware there was a female officer going – Nicole Short – and there was a strong rumour a female officer was going to get injured by a lone wolf. It was common knowledge at Kirkcaldy Police Station.”

He said he left the police van with his CS spray canister out and ordered Mr Bayoh to the ground.

He said Mr Bayoh’s eyes were “bulging” and he was ignoring instructions.

Asked why he did not try to de-escalate the situation, Mr Paton described Mr Bayoh as a “zombie” who was not reacting.

Mr Paton joined the struggle, using a baton on Mr Bayoh’s bicep, who he said demonstrated “superhuman strength” due to the drugs he believed he had taken. He took part in the ultimately unsuccessful attempts to resuscitate him.

Mr Paton insisted race played absolutely no part in his actions at any stage of the arrest. He was taken through three earlier complaints made about him during his career, one of which was concerned with race and resulted in “corrective advice”.

He said in every instance, the complaint had been unfounded.

He was also asked about an incident in which he was said to have made a remark to his grandfather, now deceased, in a supermarket, stating that he “was a total racist and hated all blacks”.

He denied this ever happened and said the allegation had arisen due to a family dispute involving his sister and brother-in-law.

The inquiry, before Lord Bracadale, continues.

SHEKU BAYOH INQUIRY: Former officer Alan Paton, who was first on the scene of the arrest, said he feared a terrorist attack like the one which killed Fusilier Lee Rigby.