Sheku Bayoh police conducted 'hard stop' - expert

The Sheku Bayoh inquiry has been told that police left themselves with little room to back down when they first confronted him.

Police safety training expert Martin Graves said the officers could have stayed back and monitored Mr Bayoh, 31, from a distance.

Instead they conducted a "hard stop," which he said minimised their ability to de-escalate the situation.

Mr Bayoh died after he was restrained on the ground by six police officers.

They were responding to a call in Kirkcaldy in May 2015.

The inquiry has heard contested allegations that Mr Bayoh stamped on a female officer after punching her to the ground.

Mr Graves, who is an independent expert, said under those circumstances, police would have been justified in using potentially lethal force.

The inquiry into Mr Bayoh's death entered its second stage last week.

It is investigating the circumstances around his death and whether race was a factor in the way the police handled the incident.

Mr Graves suggested if officers had tried to talk to Mr Bayoh through the window of their vehicle in the first instance it might have enabled them to glean more information into his demeanour.

But he said they instead adopted the "verbal dominance" approach which was hard to step back from.

Mr Graves added: "If you think of it as a ladder it's quite difficult to try and then climb back down the ladder once you have came in at a certain level.

"It's a lot easier to come in at a lower level and then escalate from there."

Last week a judge condemned the racist abuse experienced by Mr Bayoh's family during a public inquiry into his death.

Lord Bracadale said family members of Sheku Bayoh had received the abuse "on social media or in writing".

Kadi Johnson, Mr Bayoh's sister, received the abuse after she told the inquiry that she no longer felt safe in Scotland.

The abuse was revealed in a BBC Disclosure programme called How Did Sheku Bayoh Die?

Mr Bayoh died after being restrained by officers who were called after he was seen behaving erratically with a knife.

He was restrained for five minutes before falling unconscious and was pronounced dead in hospital a short time later.

Police officers involved in the restraint gave evidence to the inquiry during the summer.