First Minister John Swinney "is happy to meet" the family of Sheku Bayoh who died in police custody. The Sheku Bayoh inquiry launched in November 2020 to examine the father-of-two's death in police custody in May 2015. He passed away after being restrained by officers in Kirkcaldy following calls stating he had been behaving erratically and was carrying a knife. Mr Bayoh was restrained on the ground by six officers following a violent confrontation after it was found he was not carrying a knife. He lost consciousness and later died in hospital. The family has asked for a meeting with the John Swinney and spoke of withdrawing from the public inquiry due to feeling "totally betrayed" by the criminal justice system. The first minister told BBC Scotland News : “I would be perfectly happy to meet with the Sheku Bayoh family. We’ve met before. “I’d be happy to meet again to consider these issues and to assure them of the importance that we attach to making sure that this inquiry is completed and that any of the lessons that need to be learned are learned.” This comes after Lord Bracadale stood down as chairman of the inquiry on Tuesday. The Scottish Police Federation (SPF) repeatedly questioned his impartiality over meetings with Mr Bayoh's family. In his resignation letter, Lord Bracadale wrote: "As the judicial review process developed it became clear that the concerns about my conduct had not been allayed by my decision and that the criticisms have persisted. "As a result, it is now clear to me that many of the core participants have lost confidence in my conduct of the Inquiry to such an extent that it cannot be retrieved." Senior counsel to the Inquiry Angela Graham KC, Laura Thomson KC and Jason Beer KC resigned two days later, as did junior counsel Rachel Barrett and Sarah Loosemore. The first minister thanked Lord Bracadale today for his service and said he understood why he resigned . He said: "Lord Bracadale has given the most extraordinary commitment to the inquiry and in my view has given outstanding service to the people of Scotland in taking forward this very difficult inquiry." Lord Bracadale's replacement will be decided by Scottish government ministers, with the new chairperson then appointing counsel.
John Swinney 'happy to meet' family of Sheku Bayoh who died in police custody
First Minister John Swinney "is happy to meet" the family of Sheku Bayoh who died in police custody. The Sheku Bayoh inquiry launched in November 2020 to examine the father-of-two's death in police custody in May 2015. He passed away after being restrained by officers in Kirkcaldy following calls stating he had been behaving erratically and was carrying a knife. Mr Bayoh was restrained on the ground by six officers following a violent confrontation after it was found he was not carrying a knife. He lost consciousness and later died in hospital. The family has asked for a meeting with the John Swinney and spoke of withdrawing from the public inquiry due to feeling "totally betrayed" by the criminal justice system. The first minister told BBC Scotland News : “I would be perfectly happy to meet with the Sheku Bayoh family. We’ve met before. “I’d be happy to meet again to consider these issues and to assure them of the importance that we attach to making sure that this inquiry is completed and that any of the lessons that need to be learned are learned.” This comes after Lord Bracadale stood down as chairman of the inquiry on Tuesday. The Scottish Police Federation (SPF) repeatedly questioned his impartiality over meetings with Mr Bayoh's family. In his resignation letter, Lord Bracadale wrote: "As the judicial review process developed it became clear that the concerns about my conduct had not been allayed by my decision and that the criticisms have persisted. "As a result, it is now clear to me that many of the core participants have lost confidence in my conduct of the Inquiry to such an extent that it cannot be retrieved." Senior counsel to the Inquiry Angela Graham KC, Laura Thomson KC and Jason Beer KC resigned two days later, as did junior counsel Rachel Barrett and Sarah Loosemore. The first minister thanked Lord Bracadale today for his service and said he understood why he resigned . He said: "Lord Bracadale has given the most extraordinary commitment to the inquiry and in my view has given outstanding service to the people of Scotland in taking forward this very difficult inquiry." Lord Bracadale's replacement will be decided by Scottish government ministers, with the new chairperson then appointing counsel.
