Sheku Bayoh: sister tells inquiry of ‘faith lost’ in police and Crown Office

Kadi Johnson spoke of being told by police that her brother had been found lying on Hayfield Road and died on the way to hospital - and then that he had passed away after a “forceful arrest.”

Mr Bayoh was 31 years old when he died in police custody after being restrained by police on May 3, 2015. Since then his family have campaigned to know what happened.

The rare, judge-led public inquiry into the circumstances surrounding his death, and the investigations following it, and whether race played any part.

Led by Lord Brackendale, it commenced in May 2022, and resumed again in November after a short break. It is not expected to be completed until 2024.

Mmebers of the Bayoh family staged a vigil outside Capital House in Edinburgh before Ms Johnson addressed the inquiry.

She recalled police breaking the news of his brother’s death and said the family was left shocked when a third officer told them he had been seen carrying a blade, refusing to obey police orders.

She said: “We started to feel suspicious. We started to feel are we really getting the full facts - is it made up or not? How can you come and tell me you have lost a loved one and you don’t know how to tell me how he died?”

Ms Johnson said she believed the family would have been treated differently had they been white: “That’s my belief because why can they think they can just come to a family and tell us anything and expect us to go along with that?”

She spoke of her concerns at reports Mr Bayoh was the subject of a “forceful arrest” where he lost consciousness and died.

And she told the inquiry that miscommunication meant a post-mortem examination was carried out before Mr Bayoh’s relatives were ready to identify his body.

Ms Johnson said “time and again” her family had lost faith in Police Scotland, the Police Investigations and Review Commissioner for Scotland (PIRC), and the Crown Office.

The inquiry continues.