Sheku Bayoh officer concerned about race claims
- Published
Sgt Scott Maxwell led the police response team on the day Mr Bayoh died
A police officer has told the inquiry into the death of Sheku Bayoh that he was concerned that there may be allegations that race played a part.
Mr Bayoh died in police custody following reports he was carrying a knife on Hayfield Road in Kirkcaldy in May 2015.
Sgt Scott Maxwell managed the response team on the day of the incident.
He told the inquiry that "a lot of things" had gone through his mind that day.
These had included whether he was going to be "criminalised or classed as a murderer or anything like that".
The officer added: "It did go through my head that the race involved, due to the media speculation, might invoke a response."
Sgt Maxwell had earlier said he and his fellow officers had been instructed to return to Kirkcaldy Police Station after Mr Bayoh had been taken to hospital.
The response team which had been involved in the restraint of Mr Bayoh stayed in the canteen for about 12 hours, and were instructed by senior officers not to discuss the incident.
Sgt Maxwell was also asked why he had not removed Mr Bayoh's handcuffs before officers attempted to resuscitate him when he stopped breathing while being restrained by six officers.
Accident and emergency doctor Gillian Pickering told the inquiry last week that the handcuffs may have hindered CPR attempts.
Sgt Maxwell responded: "At the time, the chest compressions were more important.
"The delay of taking off the handcuffs was second fiddle to getting the rescue compressions in."
Sgt Maxwell told senior counsel to the inquiry, Angela Grahame QC, he had awareness of public concerns surrounding the deaths of black men in police custody in England and the US.
He claimed this had not been discussed within Police Scotland.
Sheku Bayoh died after being restrained by officers in Kirkcaldy in May 2015
In his training to become a sergeant, he said he had not been offered any enhanced equality and diversity training and was not aware of any in his 14 years since leaving Tulliallan Police College.
The inquiry heard he had previously worked as a community officer in the Templehall area of Fife for about two years.
During this time, he served as the mosque liaison officer for the Kirkcaldy Central Mosque.
Sgt Maxwell said this put him in a good position to identify racist behaviour.
He added: "I would like to think I had contact with the majority of the people in Kirkcaldy in the Templehall area, and again through interaction with the mosque.
"And also dealing with reports of racist behaviour, investigating crime, so I'd like to think that, yes, I am in a good position to identify any discriminatory or racial behaviour."
Sgt Maxwell said he did not come into contact with the black community in Kirkcaldy regularly.
He added: "There was a few people that we dealt with on a regular basis that were involved in shoplifting and drugs.
"There were a few interactions with black individuals as suspects but, again, they don't get treated any different as I would deal with a white suspect or Asian suspect.
"It's not any different. I try and treat everybody as an individual. It's not: they're black so they should be treated a certain way. That just doesn't happen."
The inquiry also heard on Wednesday from a woman who had watched Mr Bayoh being restrained by officers in the street.
Ashley Wyse told investigators two days after the incident that she had heard Mr Bayoh screaming and shouting for the six officers to get off him, and that the sound had sent chills through her as she watched from her home.
Giving evidence to the inquiry, Ms Wyse said she could now only remember hearing muffled noises, but that her memory would have been clearer at the time of her initial statement.
The inquiry was also told that paramedics took eight minutes to arrive at the scene in Hayfield Road after initially being given an address in the town's Seafield Road.
Mr Bayoh was taken to hospital where medics spent 90 minutes trying to revive him before he was pronounced dead.
The hearings are examining the circumstances of Mr Bayoh's death, the investigation that followed and whether race was a factor in what took place.
The inquiry, before Lord Bracadale, continues.