Justice and truth demanded after the death of Sheku Bayoh

Sean Robertson reports.

Fears have been voiced of a cover up by Police Scotland by the family of an unarmed black man, Sheku Bayoh, who was detained by nine police officers and later died in custody.

The 31-year-old father-of-two lost consciousness and later died after he was arrested and restrained by police using handcuffs and leg restraints in Kirkcaldy on Sunday May 3rd.

Officers are alleged to have used batons, hand and leg restraints, CS spray – which has been linked with several deaths in custody – and the more potent PAVA spray.

The Bayoh’s are furious that weeks after the incident nine officers have still not given their statements. The family are calling for a robust and independent inquiry to address grave concerns they have about the circumstances of the Sierra Leonean man’s death.

A strong case is being made that Police Scotland allegedly gave them false and conflicting accounts about the incident for some eight hours after Shaku’s death at about 8.40am, before finally revealing that he had died in custody, later on Sunday afternoon.

One version given by officers was that Mr Bayoh had been found lying in the street by a passer-by and another claimed the police were hunting two suspects in connection with his death.

A false claim that a female officer had been stabbed in the incident also circulated in the media before being denied by a spokesperson for Police Scotland, who added that she had been injured in the incident.

The controversy deepened further when the Scottish Police Federation and a lawyer for nine of the officers under investigation were accused of smearing Mr Bayoh, after they issued graphic statements alleging he had been out of control and bent on killing the female officer.

The family’s lawyer Aamer Anwar said there were still significant questions about what happened. He said: “[Following] Sheku’s death, five different versions of events were given to the family by Police Scotland officers over the course of 10 hours until they were finally told he had died in police custody; that is a matter of grave concern.”

Police Scotland have faced several controversies since the SNP police merger in 2013. The force has been questioned by MSPs over a massive increase in stop and searches -many involving minors- half a million being carried out in a year in a population of only five million. Senior figures in the force attempted to cover up the extent of the use of the procedure by using anti-terrorism laws.

Apparently routine use of handguns on patrol has also shaken public confidence in Scotland’s police force, and public pressure has forced them to rethink this heavy handed strategy. The creation of a national police force by the SNP Scottish government – Police Scotland – from the previous regional forces has led to even less accountability over the police that was the case previously. Sheku’s case underlines the urgent need for a fully accountable and democratically controlled police service by the community, trades unions, elected politicians and the general public.