Sheku Bayoh inquiry: Police officer denies 'found dead' claim

A police officer has denied telling Sheku Bayoh's loved ones that he was "found dead".

Mr Bayoh, 31, died after being restrained by police in Kirkcaldy, Fife, in May 2015 - but Sgt Andrew Mitchell said officers were told not to reveal this to his family.

He was speaking at a public inquiry in Edinburgh.

It is looking into whether race was a factor in the way the police treated Mr Bayoh and his family.

It comes after Mr Bayoh's sister, Kadi Johnson, told the inquiry she had been given two completely different stories about what happened on the day he died.

Mrs Johnson said the family lost faith with police after being "lied" to, and made discrimination claims.

Sgt Mitchell was among the officers who first informed Mr Bayoh's partner Collette Bell about his death on 3 May 2015.

He said the discussion was led by Sgt Wayne Parker, who was a detective constable at the time and is also being questioned by the inquiry.

Ms Bell - who was taken to Kirkcaldy police station with her and Mr Bayoh's baby - said in a written statement she was told her partner had been found in the street by a passer-by.

Sgt Mitchell commented: "That certainly was never relayed to her at any point."

A statement written by senior officer Sgt Graeme Dursley, in which he described how the news of Mr Bayoh's death was delivered, was read out to the inquiry.

It said: "Between me and Det Insp Colin Robson, we delegated Wayne Parker to tell Collette Bell words to the effect that 'a black male had been found dead' and we suspected that it may be her partner."

Sgt Mitchell said he could not remember the exact wording.

But when asked by Angela Grahame KC, lead counsel to the inquiry, if Sgt Dursley's description sounded similar to what was said to Ms Bell, he replied: "Yes."

Sgt Mitchell later said he did not remember the use of the words "found dead", adding: "I don't understand why that would have been said because that was never the case.

"So if it is, it's been a mistake. But I don't remember that ever getting said."

The police officer also disputed claims Ms Bell was told police were looking for someone in connection with his death.

"We never at any point said we were looking for anyone in connection with his death," he said.

Sgt Mitchell said officers who initially spoke to Ms Bell and the family were told not to tell them about any contact between police and Mr Bayoh until it was "properly investigated".

He acknowledged concealing information from loved ones risks losing trust with the family, describing it as "not the best" practice.

Sgt Parker later told the inquiry he has "no idea" why they were told not to mention any contact between police and Mr Bayoh.

He said it would have "benefitted the family" to be upfront in the first death message, "because when we passed that last message the family sort of exploded, and rightly so".

Sgt Mitchell was dispatched later that day with Sgt Parker to deliver a so-called "death message" to Mr Bayoh's sister, Mrs Johnson. This time it was Sgt Mitchell who led the conversation.

He rejected claims that he told the family Mr Bayoh had been discovered in the street.

"From my knowledge at that point he obviously hadn't been found dead, he had travelled in an ambulance to the hospital so certainly I knew that not to be true," Sgt Mitchell said.

He also dismissed claims he told Mrs Johnson officers were looking for two people in connection with the incident.

"That was never said at any point," the officer said, adding he had "no idea" why Mrs Johnson had alleged that.

On a second visit to the home that day, Sgt Mitchell read a statement prepared by his superiors which stated Mr Bayoh fell unconscious while officers attempted to arrest him and died in hospital shortly after 09:00.

At the inquiry, he criticised the statement as "very open to perception" which would "understandably" cause the family to "kick off".

But he described subsequent accusations that the family had been mistreated due to the colour of their skin as "a wee bit hurtful".

He said: "We deal with it regularly with members of the public and such like but it's certainly not anything that ever occurs within our offices or anything like that."

Mrs Johnson has accused officers of lacking compassion and empathy, as well as being arrogant when they were dealing with the family.

But Sgt Mitchell said: "I genuinely don't think I would have changed anything that day. We had the information that we had.

"We passed on the information we were told to pass on and we tried to be as honest and upfront as we could."

This week, the inquiry is also due to hear from Det Insp Colin Robson, Alistair Lewis, Martyn Dick and Det Con David Bellingham.

The £8.97m investigation, being heard before Lord Bracadale, has previously been shown video of the incident, as well as recordings of police radio and emergency service calls, and 3D modelling of how the scene would have looked in 2015.