Sheku Bayoh: The Inquiry

“Families want the truth about what's happened and they want people held to account. But most of all they want it to stop happening to somebody else. And one of the things that I don't think is understood is the added trauma for families who've looked to these processes for change to then hear about another death in similar circumstances.” Deborah Coles, Inquest In episode nine of our Sheku Bayoh:...

“Over the years it has become clear to the Bayoh family that the police, the PIRC and the Crown office has operated an unholy trinity of dishonesty and racism and incompetence betraying the word justice.” Aamer Anwar, Bayoh family lawyer On 1 April 2013, Scotland was setting up a single police force. It also set-up the Police Investigations and Review Commissioner , or PIRC.  It would do its...

"At the moment we are searching for truth, but ultimately the family want justice." Aamer Anwar, Bayoh family lawyer On the first day of each new hearing in the Sheku Bayoh public inquiry there is now a ritual. Campaigners in support of the Bayoh family gather outside the building with banners and calls for justice. When Kadi Johnston – Sheku's sister – arrives, she and family lawyer Aam...

"The heart can carry on beating almost to the bitter end." Professor Sebastian Lucas, expert witness Physiologically speaking, the human heart is the body’s engine room, pumping blood and oxygen around the body. It contracts with a regular rhythm and a steady beat from the second we are born to the moment we die. That mechanism runs on repeat, contracting, pumping, carrying, returning. Until...

"Something's gone wrong during that apprehension of Sheku which has led to his death, so the police are going to be scrutinised for  it, and rightly so. So transparency is massive, we have to be seen to be transparent and not hide anything, [be] as open and honest as we possibly can. " Retired detective chief inspector, Keith Hardie As the sun rises in the early hours of the morning, or as it...

"I remember asking them because I remember wanting to know what had happened. I mean, he’s not just dropped down dead. And they just said that a passer-by had found him dead on the street." Collette Bell, Sheku's partner It’s now eight years since Sheku’s loved ones were told by police that he had died. That trauma, they say, was compounded by how the news was broken to them.  They claim that...

I said his name and I said: "how can I help you?" and at the same time I touched the silent alarm on the wall. I knew then other officers would be coming and that they would pass over the air that the alarm had been sounded in the custody unit. I’m trying to buy time, trying to keep everything calm. I said to him: “Can I make you a cup of tea or coffee?". And he asked for a cup of tea. In this epi...

Racism in the police is not a far away issue belonging to the US. It has a long history here in the UK.  In 1981 the Brixton riots were a response to disproportionate and violent policing of Afro-Caribbean communities, and the increased use of police stop and search. A decade later the Institute of Race Relations published a groundbreaking report –  Deadly Silence – which explores 7...

In the early hours of Sunday, 3 May 2015, Police Scotland officers were called to Kirkcaldy in Fife after local man, Sheku Bayoh, had been seen walking down the street with a kitchen knife. It was after being restrained by up to six officers that Sheku stopped breathing.  The details of what happened that morning are in dispute. His devastated family are still searching for answers. They clai...

Early on Sunday,  3 May 2015 Police Scotland’s control room starts to receive calls about a black man with a knife. Police arrive at the scene and within minutes Sheku Bayoh is down on the ground. After being restrained by up to six officers, he stops breathing.  Many details of what happened that morning are in dispute. His devastated family are still searching for answers.  They w...