SHEKU Bayoh’s family listed almost 20 force “failures” yesterday during “robust” discussions with the head of Police Scotland about his death.
The 32-year-old died in 2015 after being restrained by officers responding to a call in Kirkcaldy, Fife.
A post mortem revealed a catalogue of injuries to his head, torso and limbs and prosecutors have determined not to bring criminal charges against any officers.
A public inquiry into the death of the father-of-two was announced by Justice Secretary Humza Yousaf last month.
Yesterday Police Scotland Chief Constable Iain Livingstone met Sheku’s mother, Aminata Bayoh, sister Kadi Johnson and their solicitor Aamer Anwar at the force’s Tulliallan headquarters.
In a statement following the meeting, Anwar said a “robust discussion” had taken place, during which the family “advised the chief constable of his officers’ failures”.
They claim these include failure to observe legal requirements on the use of lethal force, inconsistent statements, alleged conferring by officers after his death, deliberate attempts to smear Sheku and the leaking of false information to the press.
READ MORE: Sheku Bayoh's sister claims ‘institutional racism’ in Police Scotland
Anwar said the family are “deeply grateful” to Mr Livingstone for “treating them with compassion and respect," adding: “Whilst clearly there will be some areas of disagreement it is also important that Police Scotland recognises there is need for fundamental reform of the procedures, processes and accountability when a death in custody takes place.
“Sadly, the family once again are left deeply disappointed in the Lord Advocate’s failure to refer any of the nine officers to the Chief Constable for potential disciplinary or misconduct proceedings.
“We understand that it is the norm in cases such as this for the Lord Advocate to refer matters where they believe there has been misconduct, breach of regulations and serious concerns arising from post incident management.
“Accordingly, the Chief Constable was advised a full dossier of alleged misconduct and breaches of regulations will be provided to him directly, whilst the Lord Advocate will be contacted by the family’s representatives asking for a full explanation as to why his organisation has failed yet again to take action.”
The inquiry will examine the circumstances leading up to and following Bayoh’s death and look to establish the role his race may have played in it.
A Police Scotland spokeswoman said: “During a meeting with the family of Sheku Bayoh today, Chief Constable Iain Livingstone reiterated his personal condolences and those of the service to the Bayoh family and undertook again that Police Scotland will participate fully in the public inquiry, which will be established next year.”
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here