Family of Sheku Bayoh Devastated After Lord Advocate Decision Not to Prosecute Police

31-year-old Sheku Bayoh died after being restrained by five police officers on 3 May 2015, in Kirkcaldy, Scotland. The Lord Advocate has today ruled that there will be no criminal prosecutions brought against any of the officers involved. The decision was also made that Police Scotland will not face corporate manslaughter or health and safety charges.  Sheku, a black man born in Sierra Leone, was a trainee gas engineer and father of two. His death has been of significant controversy, raising community concern over racism within Police Scotland.

On the morning of 3 May 2015, police received a call about a man behaving unusually. Sheku was stopped by police and was held face down on the ground within 46 seconds of the arrival of the first two officers. During the restraint, officers used CS spray, batons, leg and ankle restraints and handcuffs. A post-mortem revealed that he sustained facial injuries, bruises to his body and a fracture to his rib. Around an hour and a half after the restraint, he was pronounced dead. 16 months after the death, the Police Investigations Review Commissioner submitted their review to the Lord Advocate. Since then the family has had to wait an additional two years to learn whether the Lord Advocate would bring charges against the police.

The family of Sheku Bayoh said: “Sheku was a much-loved son, brother, father and partner to Collette, who will never be forgotten. The dead cannot cry out for Justice, but the living have a duty to do so for them. We will continue the fight for Sheku but no longer have faith in our justice system to do the right thing. People said to us that the police are above the law, and because Sheku was black, we would never get justice. That is exactly what has happened.”

Read more: INQUEST, https://is.gd/s7MUUC