login
who are we?
contact us
qosheapp
Toi Staff
Gideon Levy
Tarik Cyril Amar
Stefano Lusa
Mort Laitner
Robert Sarner
Mark Travers Ph.d
Andrew Silow-Carroll
Constantin Von Hoffmeister
Ellen Ginsberg Simon
As the Bayoh inquiry collapses, spare a thought for thoroughly decent Lord Bracadale
The Sheku Bayoh inquiry has been thrown into crisis following the resignation of its Chair, Lord Bracadale, and all counsel. With over £26 million spent and 122 days of evidence heard, questions now loom over the future of the process, its integrity, and the lessons it was meant to deliver, says Thomas Leonard Ross KC
The resignation of Lord Bracadale from his position as Chair of the Sheku Bayoh inquiry after 122 days of evidence – followed by the mass resignation of all the counsel to the inquiry three days later – no doubt led the public to ask – how did we get to this position and where do we go from here?
Sheku Bayoh was 31 years of age, with a partner and two young sons, when he died in Hayfield Road, Kirkcaldy on the morning of May 3, 2015. The police officers involved in his restraint claim that they had attended in response to numerous reports from the public of a black man in possession of a large knife and that, upon their arrival at the locus of those reports, Sheku assaulted a female police officer by punching her on the back of the head, knocking her to the ground.
PAVA spray was deployed, at least one police baton was drawn, but ultimately Sheku was restrained by numerous officers in a face-down position, lost consciousness and expired. Toxicological evidence confirmed the consumption of cannabis, MDMA and Alpha-PVP (a synthetic stimulant similar to meth-amphetamine)
Given that Sheku Bayoh was in police custody at the time of his death, the holding of a statutory Fatal Accident Inquiry was mandatory in terms of the Inquiries into Fatal Accidents & Sudden Deaths etc (Scotland) Act 2016. The purpose of such a statutory inquiry would have been to (a) establish the circumstances of the death, and (b) consider what steps (if any) might be taken to prevent other deaths in similar circumstances – but in time the Scottish Government agreed to go much further than that which was strictly required by law.
Read more:
In October 2018 Crown Office advised the Bayoh family that the police........
© Herald Scotland
visit website