Why Chief Constable was right to act over threat to reopen Sheku Bayoh case against police officers

This is the subject of my latest column, published in today's Scotsman (18th February 2025).

A last-minute attempt to change the remit of the inquiry into Sheku Bayoh’s death, so that it could reconsider whether to prosecute police officers, prompted a highly unusual, but justified, challenge from the Chief Constable.

It is unusual, to say the least, for a Chief Constable to seek a judicial review of the actions of their government. I stand to be corrected but I can’t think of another case where concerns over legal differences have broken down to this extent.

In the end, the threat was obviously enough and the Chief has now been reassured, but even so, a matter of such importance deserves a closer look.

The prospect of the judicial review arose from the long-running public inquiry into the death of Sheku Bayoh, a young black man who was involved in a violent altercation with police officers early one Sunday morning back in 2015.

Tragically, Mr Bayoh died while in police custody, his cause of death being certified as the result of a “cocktail of dangerous drugs while being restrained”.

A protest march in Glasgow over the death of Sheku Bayoh after he was restrained on the ground by police officers in Kirkcaldy in 2015 (Picture: Andrew Milligan) | PA

All deaths in custody are rigorously investigated, and following a full examination, the independent Crown Office found no evidence to prosecute any of the police officers involved and announced their decision, clearing the way for further examination of the facts, normally by way of a fatal accident inquiry.

Most observers saw a full inquiry as important as the tragedy raised some important questions. How do emergency workers interact with individuals under the influence of mind-altering drugs? What training and equipment is required to protect our emergency workers and folk like Mr Bayoh? And how do we spread the word about the dangers of taking cocktails of dangerous drugs?

In a country seemingly transfixed by heroin, we often overlook the fact that the wider problem of cocktails of new substances is now more common than opiates.

So when, in 2019, a public inquiry into Mr Bayoh’s death was announced, it was welcomed as the most robust forum in which to learn lessons from this tragedy. But there was a potential difficulty, apparent from the start.

A desperate physical struggle

Because Mr Bayoh was black, there were suggestions that somehow the police response would have been different had he been white. To anyone who has ever been involved in a violent struggle this is, of course, nonsense.

When you are involved in a desperate physical struggle, the racial origin of the person you are trying to restrain is your last consideration. Ask any health worker you know, or any police officer, ambulance crew, or health worker. Of course, the racial element had to be considered by The public inquiry, but as the years have gone on it has begun to dominate.

Now, as the inquiry is almost complete, there has been a last-minute attempt to retrospectively change its remit and revisit the original decision not to prosecute the police officers involved. Improbably this decision has been left to the Deputy First Minister, who as far as I know has no legal qualification.

These are the circumstances that led the Chief Constable to seek a judicial review. She was right to do so and should keep her options open in the future. Our justice system must be fair, balanced and beyond manipulation.