Legal team in Sheku Bayoh death inquiry resigns

Sheku Bayoh died in police custody in May 2015

The legal team in the Sheku Bayoh Inquiry have resigned just days after the chairperson stepped down.

Senior counsel to the Inquiry Angela Graham KC, Laura Thomson KC and Jason Beer KC have led the questioning at the hearings into the death of Mr Bayoh.

Junior counsel Rachel Barrett and Sarah Loosemore have also resigned.

Former judge Lord Bracadale confirmed he was standing down as inquiry chairperson on Tuesday, after refusing calls to quit by the Scottish Police Federation (SPF) two months earlier.

The inquiry team said his replacement would be decided by Scottish government ministers, with the new chairperson then appointing counsel.

The Scottish government said it was "urgently" considering the situation.

A spokesperson thanked Lord Bracadale and his team for their work on the inquiry and said the government was "committed to establishing the facts surrounding the circumstances leading to Mr Bayoh's death".

Mr Bayoh, 31, died in police custody in May 2015 after being restrained by six officers on a street in Kirkcaldy, Fife.

The inquiry has been dealing with how police dealt with the aftermath and whether race was a factor.

The latest resignations are another blow to the inquiry, which started in November 2020.

After Lord Bracadale's resignation earlier this week, the family said they felt "totally betrayed" by the criminal justice system.

They have threatened to withdraw from the public inquiry and have asked for a meeting with First Minister John Swinney.

The Scottish Police Federation (SPF) had questioned Lord Bracadale's impartiality over meetings with Mr Bayoh's family. But the family insisted the "respected" former judge had done "nothing wrong".

Following the latest resignations, SPF general secretary David Kennedy said the situation once again raised the question of whether a fatal accident inquiry rather than a public inquiry would have been the best way to examine the issues.

He said: "It was always essential that the inquiry be conducted with fairness, balance and transparency for all parties involved.

"Unfortunately, several decisions taken by the inquiry's leadership has created an impression of bias that has undermined confidence in the process.

"The decision of the legal team to withdraw would therefore seem appropriate in the circumstances."

The Bayoh family's lawyer, Aamer Anwar, said their campaign to prove "this was not a death in police custody, but suspected police killing" goes on.

He added: "This inquiry is testament to a family who have refused to allow the system to smear and negate Sheku's right to life."

The inquiry has been looking into events before and after Mr Bayoh's death.

Members of the public had called the police after he was spotted carrying a knife and behaving erratically in the streets of Kirkcaldy on 3 May 2015.

He was not carrying the knife when officers arrived at the scene but a violent confrontation followed, with up to six officers restraining him on the ground.

Mr Bayoh lost consciousness and later died in hospital.

The inquiry has so far cost £26.2m, with an additional £24.3m spent by Police Scotland, including £17.3m of legal costs.