Deborah Coles, Inquest

In episode nine of our Sheku Bayoh: The Inquiry podcast we are looking at the patterns that can be seen in deaths in custody, and the power dynamics at play.

It features evidence from Marcia Rigg, whose brother Sean died in a police cell in 2008, after having a mental health crisis, as it looks to understand the role race may have played in Sheku Bayoh’s death. 

Sean was from Brixton – home to the 1981 riots in response to the policing of the Black community by the Metropolitan Police. Sheku was from the small former mining town of Kirkcaldy in Fife.

So why are there so many similarities – from the way officers involved were allowed to remain together before being questioned, to the ways the families were treated following the deaths of their loved ones.

As we hear from Deborah Coles of Inquest, families tell her charity repeatedly that they want to know the truth, and they want accountability – but more than that they want lessons to be learned to stop this happening to anyone else.

And it also covers shocking allegations of racism within the police against Black and ethnic minority officers, with instances as recently as 2023. Some giving evidence claim racism in the police has been left in the past.  But Sanda Deslandes-Clark, former general secretary of Police Scotland’s staff association for Black and ethnic minority officers, says she has evidence that racism still exists in the force.

Her view that those who are “not fit to be police officers in the 21st century” must be weeded out was backed by Dame Elish Angolini, who gave evidence on her past work on deaths in police custody.

For Marcia Rigg though, simply getting rid of the “bad apples” is not enough. She tells the Inquiry that reform is needed to ensure that the UK has “a police service not a police force”. “For Sean or perhaps Sheku," she says, "we can't do anything now but we need to do it for Sheku's sons and for Sean's sons.“

Read the script in full.

Credits:

Presented by Tomiwa Folorunso and Karin Goodwin

Written by Karin Goodwin

Research by Tomiwa Folorunso

Recording, editing and sound design by Halina Rifai

Original music by Alan Bryden

On 1 April 2013, Scotland was setting up a single police force. It also set-up the Police Investigations and Review Commissioner, or PIRC.  It would do its own investigations - pound pavements, knock doors and conduct interviews.

And - crucially -  it would be independent from the police.

Independence – and allegations about the lack of it – has been a critical issue at the most recent hearings of the Sheku Bayoh Inquiry. Episode eight looks at the evidence heard so far from PIRC and the Crown about the independence of each organisation.

It includes evidence given about working relationships between police and PIRC officers investigating the Sheku Bayoh case, and  the rationale of PIRC to share information about Bayoh’s’s post mortem with officers there at the time of his death.

Presenters Tomiwa Folorunso and Karin Goodwin also hear evidence on the Crown’s own independence and find out why it didn’t consider race as a factor in its approach to assessing whether potential criminality had taken place.

They also look into explosive revelations about intelligence gathered by Police Scotland on lawyer Aamer Anwer, and discovered by PIRC in the course of its investigation.

The watchdog found information held on Anwar was labelled “counter terrorism intelligence” though “there did not appear to be a legitimate reason or explanation for these practices”. 

The Ferret continues its summary of the evidence heard so far in its multi-award-nominated podcast.

“Tense, moving and informative. This series is an essential listen that unflinchingly opens up a story about contemporary Scotland.” [Review]

Finalist for the British Journalism Awards, the Amnesty Media Awards and runner-up of Podcast of the Year at the Scottish Press Awards 2014.

To make this podcast we’ve spent hours listening to all of the evidence so we can summarise it for you, our listeners. And we need your support to do more. 

Join us at theferret.scot/subscribe or contribute by giving us a donatation.

Credits:

This podcast is devised by Karin Goodwin, Halina Rifai and Tomiwa Folorunso 

Presenters: Tomiwa Folorunso and Karin Goodwin

Writing: Karin Goodwin

Sound production, recording, editing & sound design: Halina Rifai

Original music by Alan Bryden

Listen to all the evidence from the Sheku Bayoh Inquiry, or find out how to get a ticket to attend in person at www.shekubayohinquiry.scot

On the first day of each new hearing in the Sheku Bayoh public inquiry there is now a ritual. Campaigners in support of the Bayoh family gather outside the building with banners and calls for justice.

When Kadi Johnston – Sheku's sister – arrives, she and family lawyer Aamer Anwar walk across the square towards Edinburgh's Capital House, where the inquiry takes place.

Before going through the doors, she stands in front of campaigners and takes the mic, thanking people for giving her "the strength and the energy to walk through those doors".

And then she takes her place in the public gallery.

This hearing in the long running inquiry focuses on Police Scotland training. It’s full of acronyms for police protocols and procedures, making it easy to lose sight of the family’s fight for justice. So this episode starts there.

Inquiry brings new revelations

But it also contains some startling new revelations about policing both back in 2015 and now.

We hear about senior Police Scotland officers' inclusion in a US conference with the Police Executive Research Forum (PERF) – where they offered expertise on "the legal use of force" in the case of mental illness when someone is in possession of a knife...just days after Sheku's death.

And they admit that even today serious issues remain, including reports from senior officers that while procedure dictates they should treat acute behaviour disturbance – or ABD – as a medical emergency, police cannot always get an ambulance to attend.

There are also questions about training. For all the claims of revised process and protocol, if police got 999 calls from Hayfield Road, where Sheku died just now, how much would have changed?

The Ferret continues its summary of the evidence heard so far in its award-nominated podcast.

To make this podcast we’ve spent hours listening to all of the evidence so we can summarise it for you, our listeners. And we need your support to do more. Join us at theferret.scot/subscribe or contribute by giving us a donatation.

Read the script: https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/24408672-sheku-bayoh_-the-inquiry-episode-seven-hot-to-touch_script

Physiologically speaking, the human heart is the body’s engine room, pumping blood and oxygen around the body.

It contracts with a regular rhythm and a steady beat from the second we are born to the moment we die.

That mechanism runs on repeat, contracting, pumping, carrying, returning. Until – sometimes suddenly – it stops.

Sheku Bayoh slipped out of consciousness on the morning of Sunday, the 3rd May 2015 after he had been restrained by police for about eight minutes.

He went into cardiac arrest in the ambulance. In Kirkcaldy’s Victoria Hospital, the medical team spent more than an hour attempting  to resuscitate him and restart his heart. But ultimately he was pronounced dead at 9:04 in the morning.

And so it is that, at 2pm on Monday, 4th May 2015,  forensic pathologists Dr Kerryanne Shearer and Dr Ralph Bouhaidar found themselves standing in front of Sheku Bayoh’s body at Edinburgh’s city mortuary.

This episode is a pivotal one. It summarises what the experts have told the inquiry about the cause of Sheku Bayoh’s death.

His family and friends believe that he was killed as a result of the police restraint. Police, meanwhile, have always denied wrongdoing.

But what does the postmortem evidence show? We look at what expert witnesses told the inquiry.

Read the script in full" [documentcloud url="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/23928021-six_-sheku-bayoh-the-heart-of-the-matter?responsive=1&title=1"]

Credits:

Written and produced by Karin Goodwin

Research by Tomiwa Folorunso

Recording, editing and sound design by Halina Rifai

Original music by Alan Bryden

As the sun rises in the early hours of the morning, or as it sets at the end of the day, the light appears warmer and softer. These are known as the golden hours.

There are golden hours in police-speak too. Those are the first 24 hours or so that give detectives the best opportunity to gather evidence that may be of significance.

In this episode of Sheku Bayoh: The Inquiry, we’ll hear about the progress of the police investigation in those so-called golden hours.

We'll listen to officers from all the different parts of the Police Scotland force involved, including those who contradict each other.

And we'll look at the claims from Sheku's family and friends about how the priorities and approach of the investigation impacted on their trust in the police, and what that means for wider Scottish society.

Read the script in full here.

Credits:

Co-presented by Tomiwa Foloruso and Karin Goodwin

Written and produced by Karin Goodwin

Research and additional writing by Tomiwa Folorunso

Recording, editing and sound design by Halina Rifai

Original music by Alan Bryden

Listen to all the evidence from the Sheku Bayoh Inquiry, or find out how to get a ticket to attend in person at shekubayohinquiry.scot

To make this podcast we’ve spent hours listening to all of the evidence so we can summarise it for you, our listeners. And we need your support to do more. 

Join us at theferret.scot/subscribe and get three months free with the code PODCASTOFFER.

It’s now eight years since Sheku’s loved ones were told by police that he had died. That trauma, they say, was compounded by how the news was broken to them. 

They claim that a catalogue of errors, miscommunications and lies within hours of Sheku’s death led to a total breakdown of trust that can’t be regained.  Police, meanwhile, admit errors were made but insist the intention was never to misrepresent the truth.

In this episode we’ll hear what Sheku’s partner, Colette, and his older sister Kadi, have told the inquiry about how the news was broken to them, the way details of Sheku's contact with police was held back and the impact that had on the trust they had for the police.

And we’ll also find out what Police Scotland has to say about the decisions made in the hours following the tragic events on the 3rd of May.

Written and produced by Karin Goodwin

Research by Tomiwa Folorunso

Recording, editing & sound design by Halina Rifai

Original music by Alan Bryden

Listen to all the evidence from the Sheku Bayoh Inquiry, or find out how to get a ticket to attend in person at www.shekubayohinquiry.scot

To make this podcast we’re spent hours listening to all of the evidence so we can summarise it for you, our listeners. And we need your support to do more. 

Join us at theferret.scot/subscribe and get three months free with the code PODCASTOFFER

Script for episode four: The death message 

INTRO:

Karin: Early on Sunday,  3 May 2015 Police Scotland’s control room starts to receive calls.

CLIP 1: Hello, there’s a black man, a black man with a knife on Hayfield Road in Kirkcaldy

https://www.shekubayohinquiry.scot/node/170

Time code [5-9seconds]

Police arrive at the scene and within minutes Sheku Bayoh is down on the ground.

After being restrained by up to six officers, he stops breathing. 

Many details of what happened that morning are in dispute. His devastated family are still searching for answers. 

They want to know what role race played in Sheku’s death. They claim he is Scotland’s George Floyd.

CLIP 3: [From Kadi interview] Sheku died here in Scotland. And we as a family are fighting for changes to happen in Scotland. No family should suffer the way that we are suffering.

Police refute this.

Now a public inquiry - launched in May 2022– is trying to find out what really happened. 

CLIP 3: 

Timecode: 13:33

Its purpose is to seek to ascertain the truth. And to that purpose I am fully committed. 

"I remember asking them because I remember wanting to know what had happened. I mean, he’s not just dropped down dead. And they just said that a passer-by had found him dead on the street." Collette Bell, Sheku's partner

It’s now eight years since Sheku’s loved ones were told by police that he had died. That trauma, they say, was compounded by how the news was broken to them. 

They claim that a catalogue of errors, miscommunications and lies within hours of Sheku’s death led to a total breakdown of trust that can’t be regained.  Police, meanwhile, admit errors were made but insist the intention was never to misrepresent the truth.

In this episode we’ll hear what Sheku’s partner, Colette, and his older sister Kadi, have told the inquiry about how the news was broken to them, the way details of Sheku's contact with police was held back and the impact that had on the trust they had for the police.

And we’ll also find out what Police Scotland has to say about the decisions made in the hours following the tragic events on the 3rd of May.

Written and produced by Karin Goodwin

Research by Tomiwa Folorunso

Recording, editing & sound design by Halina Rifai

Original music by Alan Bryden

Listen to all the evidence from the Sheku Bayoh Inquiry, or find out how to get a ticket to attend in person at www.shekubayohinquiry.scot

To make this podcast we’re spent hours listening to all of the evidence so we can summarise it for you, our listeners. And we need your support to do more. 

Join us at theferret.scot/subscribe and get three months free with the code PODCASTOFFER

Script for episode four: The death message 

INTRO:

Karin: Early on Sunday,  3 May 2015 Police Scotland’s control room starts to receive calls.

CLIP 1: Hello, there’s a black man, a black man with a knife on Hayfield Road in Kirkcaldy

https://www.shekubayohinquiry.scot/node/170

Time code [5-9seconds]

Police arrive at the scene and within minutes Sheku Bayoh is down on the ground.

After being restrained by up to six officers, he stops breathing. 

Many details of what happened that morning are in dispute. His devastated family are still searching for answers. 

They want to know what role race played in Sheku’s death. They claim he is Scotland’s George Floyd.

CLIP 3: [From Kadi interview] Sheku died here in Scotland. And we as a family are fighting for changes to happen in Scotland. No family should suffer the way that we are suffering.

Police refute this.

Now a public inquiry - launched in May 2022– is trying to find out what really happened. 

CLIP 3: 

Timecode: 13:33

Its purpose is to seek to ascertain the truth. And to that purpose I am fully committed. 

https://www.shekubayohinquiry.scot/hearings/preliminary-hearing-1 

Timecode: 13:33

Welcome to Sheku Bayoh: the Inquiry – a podcast series from The Ferret. 

Episode four: The death message 

Karin: I’m Karin Goodwin, co-editor and journalist for The Ferret.

Tomiwa: And I’m Tomiwa Folorunso, a freelance writer and editor.

Welcome back to our podcast about the Sheku Bayoh Inquiry, which is investigating one of the highest profile deaths in Scottish police custody to date.

Karin: It’s now eight years since Sheku’s loved ones were told by police that he had died. That trauma, they say, was compounded by how the news was broken to them. 

They claim that a catalogue of errors, miscommunications and lies within hours of Sheku’s death led to a total breakdown of trust that can’t be regained. 

Tomiwa: Police, meanwhile, admit errors were made but insist the intention was never to misrepresent the truth.

So in this episode we’ll hear what Sheku’s partner, Colette, and his older sister Kadi, have told the inquiry about how the news was broken to them.

And we’ll also find out what Police Scotland has to say about the decisions made in the hours following the tragic events on the 3rd of May. 

Karin: If you’ve not listened to the first three episodes of our series about hearing one, we suggest you go back to those first.

Karin: But for now, let’s go back to the Fife town of Kirkcaldy on the morning of 3 May 2015.

Tomiwa: It’s about 7.30 on Sunday morning and Sheku’s partner Collette Bell is staying at her mum Lorraine’s house, along with her three month old baby boy. 

She’s close to her mum. So when Sheku goes out with friends – like he did last night – she stays over with her new baby.

But this morning she hears not from Sheku, but his friend Zahid. Here’s what she told the inquiry about that call. 

CLIP 4: I remember receiving a phone call and him sounding quite panicked on the phone, and he was kind of stuttering, trying to say what he was trying to say, and he had said "Nothing to worry about, everything's okay, I'm okay, but Shek's attacked me", and I had said "What do you mean, why, what's gone on?" And he was like "Don't  worry, I'm all right, but I just wanted you to know and I don't want you to go home”

Timecode: 30: 34

https://www.shekubayohinquiry.scot/hearings/evidence-collette-bell-09022023-am

Karin: She’s immediately worried, she says, because these two friends are like brothers. They don’t fight.

And Shek - as she calls her partner - is never violent.  He’s kind, laidback, always happy. What can be going on?

She wakes her mum to tell her, hands over the baby, dresses hurriedly and drives to her nearby home on Arran Crescent, 15 minutes away, looking for Shek.

Tomiwa: As soon as she gets there she knows something isn’t right. For a start, the door is unlocked. 

CLIP 5:  I remember opening the door, and I'm kind of shouting "Shek", and I go into the living room and I'm shouting him, and as I come out of the living room and look straight on -- it looks straight on to the  kitchen, and the back door was open, the kitchen door.  There's coats in front of our sink on the floor, and there was fridge magnets all over the floor and out into the garden, which was really strange,  and then I remember running upstairs shouting on Shek to find him.

Karin: In the bedroom the small television and other bits and pieces are on the floor and she remembers wondering - what’s happened? She tries to call him.

CLIP 5b: and I hear his phone ringing in the kitchen and his phone is in the corner of the kitchen on the floor, and I just started to panic straightaway.”

Timecode: 32.48 

https://www.shekubayohinquiry.scot/hearings/evidence-collette-bell-09022023-am

Tomiwa: She phones her mum and then calls Zahid again, she’s taken aback by how concerned he is for her safety. Still she gets back in her car to drive around the streets to see if she can spot Sheku but he’s nowhere to be seen. She calls her mum a second time. And it’s her mum who suggests Collete should call the police. 

Karin: Here’s the call she made at 8.36am:

CLIP 6:

I received a phone call from my boyfriend‘s best friend saying that he’s beaten them up like really really bad and he’s scared for safety and I’ve gone home and the door’s wide open my kitchen is trashed and all my boyfriend stuff, like his jacket and his phone, is in the house and he’s missing. I don’t, I mean his best friend is worried he’s going to hurt someone else. It’s totally out of character for him

Timecode: 00:02-0:46

https://www.shekubayohinquiry.scot/node/625

As Collette drives back to mum’s, she is less than a mile away from the A&E department of Victoria Hospital where staff are working to save Sheku’s life. In less than half an hour he will be pronounced dead.

Tomiwa: And back at Kirkcaldy police station, the officers who restrained him have been told to stand down from duty. They are waiting together in the canteen, unsure of what will happen next.

Upstairs in the station, detective inspector Colin Robson has returned from Hayfield Road, where Sheku was restrained by police.

He’s in a briefing with Graeme Dursley, a detective sergeant, along with three detective constables. All four have been brought in from, a nearby station, to provide "extra resource".

We’ll tell you more about the investigating team and the revolving cast of officers and senior figures involved next time.

Karin: But early that morning the top priority of this newly forming team was to find out the identity of the “black male” – taken to hospital after being restrained by police. 

All they know is his condition is critical.

And it is while they are gathered that Collette’s call, the one we just heard, comes in.

Tomiwa: Here’s what DS Dursley told the inquiry about her call. 

CLIP 7: Roundabout this time there was the linked call card that had come in where Mr Bayoh's partner had called in reporting concerns for him. So what I do remember was thinking, "This could be linked and this needs to be actioned quickly.

Timecode: 1:20:46 to 1:21:06

https://www.shekubayohinquiry.scot/hearings/evidence-ds-graeme-dursley-28022023-am

The three DCs at the briefing  - they’re called Parker, Michell and Clayton –  are dispatched to Collette’s house, arriving at about nine o’clock. Colette arrives with her mother and baby boy shortly after.

Karin: Inside the house officers see pictures of Sheku and start to become increasingly convinced that the man from Hayfield Road, and Collette Bell’s missing partner are one and the same.

Here’s what DC Mitchell remembers.

CLIP 8:  

A. …from what we were told it was a black male, big build and obviously the fact that the phone and the keys were sitting there as well. There was a few things that we were kind of putting together and thought well, this may well be the same guy. The fact that there had been a disturbance in the house as well, the door had been left open. It just was seeming more and more likely that this was unfortunately the same guy.

Timecode: 51:42 to 52.51

https://www.shekubayohinquiry.scot/hearings/evidence-dc-andrew-mitchell-01022023-am

Tomiwa: DC Parker steps outside to update DS Dursley, who’s back at the station. It’s then he’s told the man, who we know is Sheku, has died.

Dursley asks the officers to “seize and secure” the house for police forensics and to bring Collette back to the police station. 

In evidence, officers say it’s normal to seize a home in these circumstances. They don’t need a warrant if they have Collette’s consent which, they say, she was happy to give.

Karin: But Collette told the inquiry she wasn’t clear about what was happening or why. She remembers feeling confused and frightened.

It was clear that officers knew more than they were telling her. And yet when she asked questions they kept repeating that they had just come on shift, and knew nothing - that she should come down to the police station to find out more.

CLIP 9: 

I think they had said something like "You'll need to get some things together because this could be the beginning of a crime scene", and that really took me aback. I was shocked, and I think it made me worry even more that they were saying that. 

I think I was just thinking worst case scenario, because I do remember, whilst we were getting a bag together, going upstairs into the bedroom and I was feeding -- sorry. (Pause). I remember my mum was looking out the window. And she was saying: "They're covering the garden with polythene" and I just remember saying: "Shek's dead".

Timecode: 59:50- 1:01:13

https://www.shekubayohinquiry.scot/hearings/evidence-collette-bel  l-09022023-am

Tomiwa: Collette drives with her mum and her 15-week-old son to the station where they are ushered into a police interview room with hard chairs and a table.

DC Parker has by now been briefed by DS Dursley. In this small, bare room he delivers the news of her partner’s death. In police speak this is known as “the death message”.

But, under instruction from superiors he does not tell her that Sheku had been stopped by police immediately before his death.

In Collette’s evidence she says she is told: 'There's no easy way of saying this. There's been a body found that matches your partner's description.”

Karin: That phrase - “body found” is a striking one in the circumstances. She is asked by Angela Graham KC how sure she is that is what she heard.

Here’s how she responds: 

CLIP10: I would swear on my children's life. No ups, downs, maybes. I didn't misunderstand anything. I remember those words being told to me like it was yesterday, and there's no hesitation in my mind that they said "There's been a body found that matches your partner's description". Timecode 1:07:32 - 1.8:40

https://www.shekubayohinquiry.scot/hearings/evidence-collette-bell-09022023-am

Karin: In her statement to the inquiry, read to her by Graham, she remembers how upset she was. But once she’d calmed down enough to speak she had so many questions. What’s happened to him? Has he collapsed? Was he wounded? Was he stabbed? Where was he found?

CLIP10B:  I remember asking them because I remember wanting to know what had happened. I mean, he’s not just dropped down dead. And they just said that a passer-by had found him dead on the street.

Timecode: 1:10:04-1:10:19

https://www.shekubayohinquiry.scot/hearings/evidence-collette-bell-09022023-am

Karin: What Collette understands from this is that her partner, Sheku, has been murdered.

Eight years on the inquiry is trying to understand why she was not told the truth about what had happened.

Under questioning DC Parker denies that he told her Sheku was found dead, or that he was found by a passer-by.

CLIP 11:“All I can remember from then from -- as we know, it was quite a short statement, a very bland one, as I have said. Her initial reaction -- she obviously was extremely upset and kept saying "It's not him, it's not him, why do you think it's him?" So that was when I give her an explanation  as to why we believed it to be Sheku Bayoh at that time, so I give her a rough description, but nothing was discussed where how he was found because, in effect, we didn't know that either. I didn't know that. Andy didn't know that. So we would be pretty much giving information that we weren't party to, so no one said anything about a passer-by.”

Timecode: 20:03 - 20:35

https://www.shekubayohinquiry.scot/hearings/evidence-dc-wayne-parker-02022023-am

Tomiwa: He is, he claims, just passing the message on as instructed and is not authorised to say more.

Karin: But while giving evidence DS Dursley shakes his head as he admits police got the...]]>fc102c0c-7303-410c-97fa-41a9a8e069f4Wed, 03 May 2023 08:00:00 +010029:16falsefull44The FerretEpisode three: A cup of teaI said his name and I said: "how can I help you?" and at the same time I touched the silent alarm on the wall. I knew then other officers would be coming and that they would pass over the air that the alarm had been sounded in the custody unit.

I’m trying to buy time, trying to keep everything calm. I said to him: “Can I make you a cup of tea or coffee?". And he asked for a cup of tea.

In this episode we take a step back and hear about how one police expert witness told the inquiry about the benefits she had seen in using de-escalation techniques. And we hear evidence about how how else police officers attending Hayfield Road could have responded that day.

We also hear from witnesses who saw up to six officers restraining Sheku and hear evidence about the dangers of restraint and its potential impact on someone's breathing.

This podcast was written and produced by Karin Goodwin

Research by Tomiwa Folorunso

Recording, editing & sound design by Halina Rifai

Original music by Alan Bryden

Listen to all the evidence from the Sheku Bayoh Inquiry, or find out how to get a ticket to attend in person at www.shekubayohinquiry.scot

To make this podcast we’re spent hours listening to all of the evidence so we can summarise it for you, our listeners. And we need your support to do more. 

Join us at theferret.scot/subscribe and get three months free with the code PODCASTOFFER

In 1981 the Brixton riots were a response to disproportionate and violent policing of Afro-Caribbean communities, and the increased use of police stop and search.

A decade later the Institute of Race Relations published a groundbreaking report –  Deadly Silence – which explores 75 black deaths in custody.

Just two years after that  – in 1993 – teenager Stephen Lawrence was killed in a racially motivated attack by a white gang in southeast London.

It took 19 years for two members of the gang to be charged with his murder. A public inquiry concluded that the failings of the Metropolitan Police to investigate amounted to institutional racism.

In this episode, we look at what The Sheku Bayoh Inquiry has heard so far about racism and attitudes to race. And we hear what expert witness have said about how how viewing the incident on 3 May 2015 as a medical emergency, could have changed the course of events.

This podcast was written and produced by Karin Goodwin

Research by Tomiwa Folorunso

Recording, editing & sound design by Halina Rifai

Original music by Alan Bryden

Listen to all the evidence from the Sheku Bayoh Inquiry, or find out how to get a ticket to attend in person, at www.shekubayohinquiry.scot

To make this podcast we’re spent hours listening to all of the evidence so we can summarise it for you, our listeners. And we need your support to do more. 

Join us at theferret.scot/subscribe and get three months free with the code PODCASTOFFER

It was after being restrained by up to six officers that Sheku stopped breathing. 

The details of what happened that morning are in dispute. His devastated family are still searching for answers. They claim he is Scotland’s George Floyd.

Police refute this.

Now a public inquiry - launched in May last year – is trying to find out what really happened. 

Sheku Bayoh: The Inquiry is a new podcast from The Ferret, bringing you up-to-date with the evidence that the inquiry has heard so far.

Find out more at theferret.scot or join us at theferret.scot/subscribe

Credits:

Tomiwa Foloronso: co-host and researcher

Karin Goodwin: co-host, writer and producer

Halina Rafai: editing, recording and sound

With original music by Alan Bryden

Police arrive at the scene and within minutes Sheku Bayoh is down on the ground. After being restrained by up to six officers, he stops breathing. 

Many details of what happened that morning are in dispute. His devastated family are still searching for answers. 

They want to know what role race played in Sheku’s death. They claim he is Scotland’s George Floyd. Police refute this.

Now a public inquiry - launched in May last year – is trying to find out what really happened. 

Welcome to Sheku Bayoh: The Inquiry, a new podcast for The Ferret, summarising the evidence heard so far.

In the early hours of that morning there was going to be a big boxing match –  Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs Manny Pacquiao, in Las Vegas. It was billed as the Fight of the Century. Sheku and Zahid planned to go to their friend Martyn’s house to watch it after he finished work, about 3am...But the night ended in tragedy.

In this episode we look at the evidence about what exactly happened in the hours and minutes leading up to Sheku Bayoh's death. And we examine in detail the 75 seconds it took between police arriving at Hayfield Road in Kirkcaldy and restraining him on the ground.

This podcast was written and produced by Karin Goodwin

Research by Tomiwa Folorunso

Recording, editing & sound design by Halina Rifai

Original music by Alan Bryden

Listen to all the evidence from the Sheku Bayoh Inquiry, or find out how to get a ticket to attend in person at www.shekubayohinquiry.scot

To make this podcast we’re spent hours listening to all of the evidence so we can summarise it for you, our listeners. And we need your support to do more. 

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