A public inquiry into the death of Sheku Bayoh will take place in Edinburgh from today.
The inquiry, which will be shared by Lord Bracadale, will look into the circumstances surrounding the death of the 31-year-old, who passed away after being restrained by police in 2015.
Mr Bayoh’s family have compared the father-of-two’s death to the killing of George Floyd - who died at the hands of a police officer in the US.
The family’s lawyer, Aamer Anwar, said that Mr Bayoh’s loved ones have waited a “very long time” to hear the truth”.
“The public inquiry will finally commence seven years and seven days after Sheku Bayoh died in police custody, and two years since the former Lord Advocate advised the Bayoh family that not one police officer would face charges for the death of Sheku Bayoh”, the lawyer said in a statement.
“Sheku’s family believe they were failed by those who have a duty to protect the public and uphold the law.”
What happened to Sheku Bayoh?
Sheku Bayoh died in May 2015 after he was restrained by officers near his home in Kirkcaldy.
Officers were called out to a street in the Fife town following reports of a man waving a knife around and acting erratically.
It has been reported that the 31-year-old, who had taken the drugs MDMA and Flakka, was restrained by up to nine officers using batons and Pava spray.
The trainee engineer, who was originally from Sierra Leone before moving over to Scotland, was restrained on the ground for five minutes before falling unconscious and died soon after.
Police were unable to find a knife on Mr Bayoh at the time of their investigation.
Later investigations found that the dad-of-two suffered 23 separate injuries at the time of his death.
The cause of Mr Bayoh’s death was recorded as “sudden death in a man intoxicated…(drugs) whilst under restraint”.
The Crown Office decided in 2019 that no one would be prosecuted in connection with his death.
Mr Bayoh’s family have claimed that race played a part in his death and have compared the incident to the killing of George Floyd, who died at the hands of a US police officer.
What is the point of the public inquiry?
A public inquiry into the death of Sheku Bayoh was announced by the Scottish Government back in December 2019.
The inquiry will consider a number of issues, including the circumstances of his death, the post-incident management and the extent to which events leading up to and following Mr Bayoh’s death were affected by his actual or perceived race.
Core participants in the inquiry are the family of Mr Bayoh including his two sons, Police Scotland Constable Iain Livingstone and a number of officers and retired officers from the force.
The Lord Advocate, the Police Investigations and Review Commissioner, the Scottish Police Federation and the Coalition for Racial Equality and Rights are also core participants.
Angela Grahame QC, senior counsel to the inquiry, said in November last year that it has gathered more than 21,000 items which it is working through.
The inquiry is expected to last until September 2024 at least.
