A public inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the death of Sheku Bayoh is to be set up, it has been announced.
Justice secretary Humza Yousaf confirmed a probe into the death of Mr Bayoh, who died after being restrained by police officers in Kirkcaldy in 2015, following a meeting with family members and the First Minister at the Scottish parliament on Tuesday.
READ MORE: No charges over death of Sheku Bayoh
On Monday, it was announced none of the officers involved would face criminal proceedings, a decision which left Mr Bayoh’s family feeling “betrayed”.
In a statement to the Scottish Parliament, Mr Yousaf said the process of appointing the chairperson of the inquiry would begin shortly.
He said: "The first minister and I met with Mr Bayoh's family today to express our deepest condolences and assure them of our commitment to establishing the facts surrounding this tragic incident."
"They are right to expect a full public examination of the circumstances of Mr Bayoh's death and I stated my determination to put in place a process to deliver that."
He added: "It is imperative that the circumstances leading up to Mr Bayoh's death and the events that followed are examined in full and in public."
Mr Yousaf said he would update MSPs early next year confirming the inquiry's terms of reference.
Family lawyer Aamer Anwar said: "To say that a Public Inquiry must leave no stone unturned is an essential starting point."
"There must be publicly accountable learning.
READ MORE: Sheku Bayoh custody death officers are to retire because of ill health
"As with events like Hillsborough or the inquiries into the killing of Stephen Lawrence, Zahid Mubarek or Hillsborough it is necessary in terms of public confidence and justice going forward for the various chapters of the inquiry to cover both the cause and the wider circumstances that contributed to the death and what recommendations can be made to avoid repetition and the safeguarding of lives in the future.
"From that, it follows that the Inquiry must identify each and every individual and organisation who must bear responsibility and accountability for this tragedy and the mishandling of the aftermath."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel