Sheku Bayoh custody death officers are to retire because of ill health

A ruling was published earlier this week by Lord Stephen Woolman who ordered the SPA to reconsider their decision within 30 days.

The judgment revealed Ms Short, 32, was suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and was now “permanently disabled from undertaking the ordinary duties of a police officer”.

• READ MORE: PC feared Sheku Bayoh would kill someone

Her colleague, Mr Paton, 44, has reportedly received extensive psychological counselling and his grounds for retirement have been supported by a psychiatrist.

Both officers were left traumatised following the controversial arrest of Mr Bayoh in Kirkcaldy on May 3, 2015.

They had been called to the Templehall area of the town after calls reporting that a man was seen behaving erratically with a knife.

The judgment included an account of the morning by Ms Short, who said she feared “a murder was about to place”.

She also described Mr Bayoh, 31, as being “like a zombie” and his “eyes were totally black”.

She said that despite him being hit with CS and PAVA spray, he allegedly reacted by “laughing and wiping it away from his eyes like it was just water”.

Ms Short described receiving “an enormous blow” to the back of her head which lifted her off her feet as she tried to run away from Mr Bayoh, who was under the influence of drugs.

She was taken to hospital before returning to Kirkcaldy police station later the same day.

Gas engineer Mr Bayoh was also taken to hospital for treatment but was pronounced dead a short time later.

Both Ms Short, who has nine years’ service, and Mr Paton, who has served for 17 years, have both been off long-term sick since and had asked to retire.

The Scottish Police Authority refused their application until it was known if either of the two would face criminal proceedings following the incident.

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But Lord Woolman found their decision was “irrational” and that no one had suggested the officers were culpable to any degree in respect of the incident.

The Scottish Police Federation, which represented both officers through solicitor advocate Peter Watson, confirmed the SPA had made its final decision.

Deputy general secretary David Kennedy said: “We welcome the decision by the SPA, which makes clear these officers suffered significant injury in the execution of their duties and qualify to retire on grounds of ill-health.

“We continue to support all officers involved in these tragic events and hope that a date for a fatal accident inquiry or a public inquiry is set so all the facts can be judicially determined.”

Mr Watson added: “The Scottish Police Authority undertook to follow the directions of the court that required them to re-examine their decision within 30 days. In fairness to the SPA, they dealt with that quickly and, as at 5pm on Thursday, I was advised that the decision had been made to grant ill-health retirement. This is a great relief to the officers concerned, both of whom continue to suffer serious ill-health issues.

“We are anxious to get to a judicial inquiry as quickly as possible for the interests of everyone, including Mr Bayoh’s family, but also for the officers. What has to be remembered is that during this period of time, because they are serving officers, they have not been able to engage or respond to a constant stream of media comments.”

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A spokeswoman for the Scottish Police Authority said it had reviewed the decision as instructed by Lord Woolman but was unable to comment further at this stage.