Police told Sheku Bayoh's partner 'a black male is dead', inquiry hears

dailyrecord.co.uk:

The partner of Sheku Bayoh was told that “a black male had been found dead”, according to police evidence read out at an inquiry investigating the his death.The statement came from Detective Sergeant Dursley, who was one of the officers involved in the police incident in which Mr Bayoh, 31, died after he being restrained on the ground by six officers in Kirkcaldy, Fife, in May 2015.

Mr Bayoh’s sister, Kadi Johnson, had previously told the inquiry she believes her brother was handled the way he was because he was black.She also said that she and her family began to feel “suspicious” after being given different versions of how her brother died.

The inquiry, being held at Capital House in Edinburgh, is investigating the circumstances of his death and whether race was a factor.A statement written by Ds Dursley, in which he described how the death message was relayed to Mr Bayoh’s partner, Collette Bell, was read out to the inquiry.

It said: “Between me and DI Colin Robson, we delegated Wayne Parker to tell Collette Bell words to the effect that ‘a black male had been found dead’ and we suspected that it may be her partner.”Giving evidence at the inquiry, Detective Constable Andrew Mitchell, who was involved in delivering the news of Mr Bayoh’s death to Ms Bell, was asked if the description sounded accurate.