AN INQUIRY into the death of a man in police custody to consider "at every stage" whether the fact that he was black made a difference to his treatment is to reopen on Tuesday.

Sheku Bayoh, a 31-year-old gas engineer died after being restrained by officers responding to a call in Kirkcaldy, Fife, in May, 2015 and the family have been demanding answers ever since.

The karate enthusiast who was known as "Sheik" to friends had been detained by police in the town's Hayfield Road and died in custody shortly afterwards.

The 32-year-old's family claimed race played a part in his death and criticised the subsequent investigation.

Now Lord Bracadale, chaiarman of Sheku Bayoh Inquiry, is to convene a preliminary inquiry hearing to take place in Edinburgh on Tuesday at 10am.

The legal team for Mr Bayoh's family say that the that hearing will be "critical in determining whether the truth emerges".

The hearing comes some six years and nine months after Sheku Bayoh died in police custody, and two years since the then Lord Advocate advised the Bayoh family that neither the police officer or Police Scotland would face charges for the death.

The Herald:

The inquiry, first announced in late, 2019 is considering issues including the circumstances of the death, the post-incident management and the extent to which events leading up to and following Mr Bayoh's death were affected by his actual or perceived race.

Inquiry chairman Lord Bracadale has said he is "fully committed" to getting to the truth of Mr Bayoh's death.

The family lawyer Aamer Anwar  has said that the Crown Office and the Police Investigations and Review Commissioner (PIRC) had  "betrayed justice".

Angela Grahame QC, senior counsel to the inquiry, has said there will be no more than six hearings, the last of which will cover race.

She said in November: “In the final hearing we will seek to draw together all the evidence heard at each hearing regarding race. We will identify any evidence of overt racism, any failures or inadequacies and evidence of any aspect of events which could potentially give rise to an inference that decisions and outcomes were based on race.”

Ms Grahame said this would allow inquiry chairman Lord Bracadale to consider “whether an inference may be drawn that race was a factor in the death of Sheku Bayoh, the post-incident management or the subsequent investigations”.

She added: “In this inquiry we will be carefully examining every choice made, every action and omission and asking whether the fact that Mr Bayoh was a black man made a difference.

“We will be asking, had Mr Bayoh been white would he and his family have been treated in the same way? Had Mr Bayoh been white would the investigations have proceeded in the same way?

“Had Mr Bayoh been white would different choices have been made about the appropriate course of action?

“At every stage we will be making this comparison and asking ourselves that question.”