Sheku Bayoh PIRC Meeting

The head of the team investigating the death of Sheku Bayoh says all lines of inquiry are being explored.

Kate Frame, who heads up The Police Investigations & Review Commissioner, will meet with the 31-year-old's family on Thursday.

Mr Bayoh died in police custody in Kirkcaldy on May 3rd.
 
A spokesperson for PIRC said: “It is unfortunate that the family lawyer, Aamer Anwar, appears to have interpreted the fact that forensic pathology experts from outwith Scotland have been instructed, as a sign that the PIRC has focused its investigation on a particular cause of death for Sheku Bayoh.
 
“The Commissioner can reassure the family that in fact the opposite is true.
 
“As they and Aamer Anwar know, the post mortem conducted in Scotland did not reveal a conclusive cause of death.
 
“In order to assist the family in understanding what caused Sheku Bayoh’s death, the PIRC identified a number of expert forensic pathologists to the Crown Office.
 
“The Lord Advocate then selected and instructed the Commissioner to approach the chosen experts and seek their opinion on the cause of death.
 
“Both are entirely independent and Dr Payne-James has already said ‘an expert’s duty is to be completely independent, irrespective of who is instructing them’.
 
“Once the experts’ opinions are available they will be passed to the Crown Office and the PIRC would anticipate that, in accordance with standard practice in a serious case such as this, they will take the opportunity to precognosce them as witnesses along with other significant witnesses identified in the PIRC report.
 
“The Commissioner will reassure the deceased’s family at her meeting with them on Thursday that further lines of enquiry continue to be explored.
 
“She will be happy to receive any additional information they might have that would assist the investigation.”