Sheku Bayoh’s sister has told the inquiry into his death police officers gave conflicting accounts of how he died.
Mr Bayoh passed away after being restrained in Kirkcaldy on the morning of May 3 2015.
Kadi Johnson spoke of the moment plain-clothed police officers arrived at her home that afternoon to break the news of her brother’s death.
She said the “completely different” accounts raised her suspicions, especially given the length of time between his death and her being informed.
Differing accounts
She said initially the family was told Mr Bayoh had been found in the street.
On later visits she was told Mr Bayoh had been involved in a “forceful arrest” and had been spotted with a “machete”.
She said: “They said they were looking for two guys and the other thing they said (was) he was found lying on the road and they called an ambulance and on the way to the hospital he died.
“They had different stories during that time that they told us he’d passed.
“I remember (her husband) Ade saying ‘Was he involved in an accident?’ And they said no.
“‘Was he stabbed?’ They said no.
“‘How did he die?’ They said we don’t know what we are still looking for these guys, who may be involved in his death.”
New version of events read from notebook
Ms Johnston, a trained nurse, said officers stayed at her house for around 10 minutes, before returning, giving a different account of events.
She said: “He (an officer) was reading from a notebook saying that Sheku was involved in a forceful arrest and during that time he became unconscious and died.
“When they mentioned the word forceful I remember speaking to the one (officer) with the nursing background saying ‘forceful arrest, that means Sheku must’ve been manhandled and during that time they might have obstructed is airways or something like that’.”
When a senior officer arrived later that evening she said the family was told Mr Bayoh had been seen with a machete.
She said: “He said he was holding a machete and then when we reacted, he said it might be a blade, it might be a knife.
“He wasn’t quite sure what the weapon was.
“I’ve never seen a machete in this country before.
“For my brother to have that was very shocking for us to hear.
“And also for Sheku to have punched, stamped on a police woman, that was shocking to us as well.
“Because I couldn’t believe Sheku should act in such a way, because that’s not the Sheku I know.
“That’s not how he was raised, that’s not his character.
“For him to do all of this was very surprising to us.”
Believes race affected family treatment
She said she believed police expected her to “go along” with the story because she was black.
She said: “From the very first time in they (police) came in they were not sure how Sheku died.
“All of this happened in the morning hours.
“For them to come to my house at 3pm still not knowing how Sheku died was suspicious to me.
“Why can they think they can just come to a black family and tell them anything and expect us to just go along with that without asking questions or without us wanting to know the truth?
“My belief is if we were white maybe we would’ve been treated differently.”
The inquiry continues
The inquiry has previously heard how officers tackled Mr Bayoh on Kirkcaldy’s Hayfield Road.
Mr Bayoh later died in hospital following the incident.
The inquiry, chaired by Lord Bracadale, aims to examine the circumstances surrounding his death and whether race was a factor.
More than 30,000 pieces of evidence are currently being considered.
Police officers involved in the inquiry had sought official undertakings that what they say during the hearings cannot be used later.
However, they failed in their bid and the Crown has reserved its right to prosecute in all matters related to the case.
