Sheku Bayoh police never mentioned hunt for two men to family, inquiry told

dailyrecord.co.uk:

Police gave no impression there was anyone else involved in the death of Sheku Bayoh despite family members claiming they were told that was the case, an officer has told an inquiry.Detective Sergeant Wayne Parker was a detective constable at the time of Mr Bayoh’s death and he was one of the officers who delivered the news to the family.Mr Bayoh, 31, died after he was restrained on the ground by six police officers in Kirkcaldy, Fife, in 2015, and the inquiry is investigating the circumstances of his death and whether race was a factor.The death message – a message from police announcing the death of a person – which was relayed to Mr Bayoh’s family was read out to the inquiry in a statement from Detective Sergeant Andrew Mitchell, who attended with Mr Parker.It said: “Following an incident this morning in Hayfield Road of Kirkcaldy, officers from Police Scotland have been attempting to arrest Sheku Bayoh during which time he has become unconscious.“Conveyed to hospital by Scottish Ambulance Service, and despite best efforts by hospital staff, died shortly after 9am.”Giving evidence on Thursday, Mr Parker insisted the death message delivered on the day of Mr Bayoh’s death was read out to the family “verbatim”, and that no details of anyone else potentially being involved in the incident was mentioned.He said: “I know exactly what he (Mr Mitchell) said because he tilted the notebook and I was reading it as he said it.”But Mr Parker’s evidence contradicts statements from Mr Bayoh’s partner Collette Bell and his family.The inquiry heard from a statement written by Ade Johnson, Mr Bayoh’s brother-in-law, which said: “The police officer said they were looking for two guys and that they (police) were going to a friend’s house