Chairman of Sheku Bayoh Inquiry decides against recusing himself
A procedural hearing ordered by Lord Bracadale was held in June after he revealed he has met with Mr Bayoh's family on five occasions since the inquiry began.
Mr Bayoh, 31, a father-of-two, died after he was restrained by around six police officers who were called to Hayfield Road in Kirkcaldy, Fife, on May 3 2015.
After considering the matter, Lord Bracadale has refused the application for his recusal.
In a decision published on Wednesday, he said: 'Having reviewed the facts, the fair-minded and informed observer would conclude that there was no real possibility that I was biased.'
The application for recusal of the chairman and assessors was lodged on behalf of the Scottish Police Federation, Pc Craig Walker and Nicole Short.
A spokeswoman for the inquiry said: 'The inquiry held a procedure and conduct hearing on June 12.
'After careful consideration of written and oral submissions from core participants, Lord Bracadale has decided not to recuse himself or terminate the appointments of the assessors.
'Having regard to the relevant legal test, he has determined there is no apparent bias.
'Taking into account various considerations in respect of the handling of the inquiry, he has determined having meetings with the families was not unfair.
'There is much important work for the inquiry still to do, not least proceeding with closing submissions and moving towards the writing of the final report. The team is working at pace and will announce next steps in due course.'
The inquiry has been examining the circumstances of Mr Bayoh's death, and whether race was a factor.
Scotland's Deputy First Minister Kate Forbes said: 'I note the detailed and extensive consideration that has informed Lord Bracadale's decision and hope all parties involved can progress the important work of the inquiry as soon as possible.
'The Scottish Government remains committed to establishing the facts surrounding the circumstances leading to Mr Bayoh's death.
'However, as it is vital all public inquiries operate independently of government, it would be inappropriate of me to comment any further.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Record
2 hours ago
- Daily Record
Isla Bryson's mum slams Nicola Sturgeon over gender comments
Janet's son was born Adam Graham but began to identify as a woman called Isla while awaiting trial for rape. The mum of trans rapist Isla Bryson has ridiculed Nicola Sturgeon's comments that male rapists should 'probably' lose the right to choose their gender. Janet's son was born Adam Graham but began to identify as a woman called Isla while awaiting trial for rape. The convict was sent to a female jail before Sturgeon, then first minister, announced a switch to all-male HMP Edinburgh following a public outcry over the case. The case fuelled outrage over the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill and also contributed to the later resignation of Sturgeon, who was instrumental in forcing controversial gender self-ID laws through Holyrood, as FM. Speaking in a recent TV interview with ITV to mark the release of her memoir Frankly, the former SNP leader, said that 'anybody who commits the most heinous male crime against women probably forfeits the right to be the gender of their choice.' However Bryson's mum has said 'selecting' who has the right to self ID fundamentally undermines the very principles it is based on. Speaking exclusively to the Sunday Mail, Janet, 65, said: said: ' Nicola Sturgeon says that my son, who was born a man,. should not be able to pick his gender because he is a convicted rapist. 'The problem with any blanket policy is that is applies to everyone. 'So if you allow people to self ID, then you can't cherry pick who does and who does not. The core principal is the person is allowed to select their self. 'The Gender self ID meant Adam could say he was a woman, even when he was and is biologically male. 'By now saying some trans women are not women, goes against everything the reform brought in. 'Nicola Sturgeon was warned about the policy, and Adam's case showed up the biggest flaw in the system. 'Going back on that now, just undermines everything and proves all it did was allow any man, even a rapist, the right to say they are a woman giving them access to all the rights and spaces that women have.' At the height of the furore around the double rapist's case, Sturgeon repeatedly refused to call Bryson a man but in the TV interview last week the former SNP leader said : 'Isla Bryson identified as a woman.' In April Britain's highest court ruled only two biological sexes - male and female, assigned at birth - can be recognised under the 2010 Equality Act. But they said trans people were still protected from discrimination by the act. Sturgeon has previously faced calls - from women's right campaigners, backed by Janet - to apologise over the controversial gender self-ID laws and erosion of women's rights following the ruling. Speaking after the ruling, Janet, had said: 'I'm pleased with the ruling which ends years of confusion over these new gender laws and now the rights of biological women are clear and protected. 'That has now been made clear but it should never have been questioned in the first place. But I think it is now time Ms Sturgeon apologised.' The former leader said last week that she was partly to blame for the debate on gender recognition laws in Scotland losing 'all sense of rationality'. The Scottish Government introduced laws in 2018 to include people given the legal GRC document, which would allow them to use single-sex areas, including women's loos and changing rooms. During the case, the Scottish Government argued in court that transgender people with a GRC are entitled to the same sex-based protections as biological women. Mum-of-three Janet has always refuted Bryson's claims he had wanted to be a girl from age four. She said: 'My son never expressed any wish that he wanted to be a girl, dressed in any other way or ever asked to be called by any other name than Adam growing up. Never once, at the age of four or at any other age.' Janet has dozens of family pictures of Bryson. She has been left traumatised by her son's conviction because she had been a sex attack victim. Bryson, 34, was convicted of raping women while known as Graham in 2023 and jailed for eight years, with a further three on licence.
Daily Mail
2 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Best friend of girl, 11, who went missing 29 years ago issues direct plea to suspect after arrest
For 29 years, loved ones of Trudy Appleby have waited in agony for answers about what happened to the bright and spirited 11-year-old, who was last spotted climbing into a stranger's car in 1996 - and never seen again. On Thursday, their fight for justice took a major step forward with the arrest of Jamison Fisher, 50, who was first named as a person of interest five years ago. Fisher is accused of kidnapping Trudy, strangling her, and dumping her body - but police have yet to reveal what evidence led to the charges. The most agonizing question of all still remains: where is Trudy? She was last seen alive near her home in Moline, Illinois, on August 21, 1996, but her body has never been found. For Trudy's childhood best friend, Amber Dunlap, the news of Fisher's arrest struck like a bolt from the blue. She told the Daily Mail how she dropped to her knees at work, overcome with tears, when her mom told her about the stunning development - a moment that brought relief, anger, and grief all at once. Seeing Fisher's mugshot for the first time made her physically sick. 'I saw his face and I threw up,' she said. 'Any human being who can harm a child is not human. 'I've always taught my kids that monsters are real, but they don't look like storybook monsters. They look like people.' But Fisher's arrest is only part of the story. Dunlap knows that the only thing that will bring this haunting chapter to a close for Trudy's loved ones is finding her remains - and she is pleading directly with the man accused of killing her. 'Tell us where she is. That way, we can give her the proper burial she deserves. 'She was an innocent child. Please do the right thing.' Fisher has been charged with three counts of first-degree murder and one count of concealment of a homicidal death. He has not yet entered a plea, but previously denied wrongdoing when he was first identified as a person of interest in 2020. He is being held in the Scott County Jail, where he was already in custody on unrelated narcotics charges. Last month, his son, Edward J. Fisher, 19, died in a drowning accident along the Mississippi River. Dunlap said that now Fisher understands the pain of losing a child, he should end the Appleby family's suffering by confessing. Trudy's mom, Brenda Gordon, died without ever getting answers about her only child's fate. She was killed in 2014 at age 53 after being struck by a drunk driver. Trudy's father, Dennis Appleby, is 77. Dunlap said she is desperate for Dennis to get answers in his lifetime. 'It's terrible to lose a child, and [Fisher] knows that pain now. The only difference is he knows what happened to his son, while we're still waiting. 'If he has any feelings at all, he will put us out of our misery.' Dunlap was just 13 when Trudy disappeared. The pair were inseparable, spending every waking minute of their free time together, to the point where they saw each other as sisters rather than friends. Police said Trudy had asked her father if she could go swimming with a friend on the nearby Campbell's Island, but her father said no Dunlap was with Trudy the night before she disappeared. That night was spent like any other: rollerblading in the street, eating hot dogs and mac and cheese, teasing Dunlap's younger brother, and playing on the Super Nintendo. There was nothing unusual about Trudy's behavior. She was her usual happy and spunky self. Dunlap walked her home. Their neighborhood felt safe then. Cul-de-sacs and tree-lined streets. 'Love you. See you tomorrow,' Dunlap called out as she watched Trudy go inside. Trudy returned the sentiment - but tomorrow never came. 'I never in a million years thought that would be the last time I saw her,' said Dunlap. Early the following morning, at around 9:30am, Trudy was seen climbing into a silver or gray box-style car driven by an unknown white male, thought to be in his 20s. She was wearing a black, one-piece swimsuit, spandex shorts, blue tennis shoes, a t-shirt and carrying a beach towel. Police said Trudy had earlier asked her father if she could go swimming with a friend on the nearby Campbell's Island, but he said no. Phone records indicated she had made arrangements to go anyway behind her parents' backs, according to investigators. What happened to Trudy after that is still not clear. The moment Dunlap realized something was wrong came in a phone call from Trudy's panicked dad, asking if she'd seen her. Dennis knew the girls had plans to meet that morning, but Dunlap told him she never showed. 'As soon as I got off the phone with her dad, I turned to my mom and said, 'Somebody's got her! Somebody took her!'' said Dunlap, through tears. 'I knew she never would've run off, and there were so many things that didn't add up. I knew right then that something terrible had happened.' Dunlap was questioned by the police. They believed Trudy had run away and suspected she knew where her friend was hiding. Dunlap insisted she didn't. While the search continued, Dunlap spent every day after school sitting at the end of Trudy's driveway, hoping she'd come skipping down the road - as she often did - but that wish never materialized. The days stretched into weeks, weeks into months, months into years, and years into decades - and Dunlap is still waiting to bring Trudy home. For a long time, investigators seemed to be at an impasse. However, in 2017, the case gained momentum. That year, police publicly identified William 'Ed' Smith as a person of interest, claiming he may have been the last person to be seen with Trudy in the grey or silver car. A witness saw Smith on the day of Trudy's disappearance in a vehicle near his home on Campbell's Island, police said. A girl in the passenger seat matched Trudy's description. The following year, the FBI seized a boat they believed could be involved in the case. The vessel was swabbed for DNA, but the results of the search were never disclosed. Then, in 2020, two more persons of interest entered the fold: Jamison Fisher and David Whipple. Whipple - a registered sex offender, convicted of sexually abusing a 10-year-old girl - was Smith's son-in-law, and Fisher was a lifelong family friend of the Smiths, police said. Smith died in 2014 and Whipple in 2022. Authorities said previously that Fisher was likely the last person alive who knew what happened to Trudy. The backyard of Fisher's home was excavated in 2023, but nothing was found. The Moline Police Department refused to back down in the case, voicing certainty that Trudy's killer would be brought to justice. Then, on Wednesday, Fisher was indicted by a grand jury for murdering Trudy and disposing of her remains. Though she long ago conceded Trudy was likely no longer alive, the details of how police believe she was killed were hard for Dunlap to hear. She has been haunted by an image of Trudy being strangled, and imagining how terrified she must've been in her final moments, desperately fighting for air. But she is ready for answers, no matter how painful the truth may be. 'We just want Trudy home and justice to be served,' said Dunlap. 'We will never get closure. Our lives will never be normal again, but at least we'd be able to move forward.' Moline Police Chief Darren Gault said his department will continue to work tirelessly to find Trudy. As Fisher moves towards trial, detectives will be chasing all new leads, no matter how big or small. He credited the breakthrough of Fisher's arrest - coming one week before the 29th anniversary of Trudy's disappearance - to decades of rigorous investigative work, which has included hundreds of interviews, numerous executed search warrants, vehicle seizures, and multiple excavations. '28 years, 11 months, and 23 days. That's how long the family of Trudy Appleby has waited for a resolution to her disappearance. That's 10,584 days,' Gault said during a press conference on Thursday. 'That is the time it has taken to stand before you and say what we long had hoped we could say: We have made an arrest in the murder of Trudy Appleby.' Gault acknowledged that nothing can bring Trudy back, but Moline PD is committed to 'seeking the truth for Trudy and her family and to ensuring that justice is served.' Each year, Trudy's family hosts a candlelight vigil in Moline on August 21, praying for answers and trying to keep her story alive. This year, the solemn gathering will look very different from each of the 28 before it. 'It's going to be more emotional,' said Dunlap. 'In previous years, we've had police share new information, but nothing like this.'
BBC News
3 hours ago
- BBC News
Serbia ruling party offices set on fire in fifth night of protests
Fresh clashes erupted between anti-government protesters and riot police across Serbia in the fifth night of unrest in a row, after offices of the the ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) were set on in Valjevo reportedly used stun grenades and tear gas on protesters after a small group of masked people attacked the empty facilities of the SNS, setting them on were widespread allegations of violence and police brutality in the capital, Belgrade, and Novi Sad. Serbia's interior ministry has denied these comes as Russia pledged to shore up the beleaguered pro-Moscow President Aleksandar Vučić, who leads the SNS, saying it would not "remain unresponsive". The protests were initially triggered by a railway station collapse in Novi Sad in November last year, with Serbians demanding an early election and the end to President Aleksander Vučić's 12-year anti-corruption demonstrations have drawn in hundreds of thousands of protestors, they had been largely peaceful until Wednesday's clash, when pro-government loyalists staged Saturday night, riot police were again deployed in a number of cities including Belgrade as people took part in demonstrations to demand early elections. Offices and flags representing Vučić's SNS party had been a focus of the protesters' anger. Protesters also smashed the windows of the headquarters of the Serbian Radical Party, a coalition partner of the ruling the past week, injuries have been reported at protests across the country and unverified video has circulated on social media of police beating a man in O'Flaherty, the Council of Europe's Commissioner for Human Rights, raised concern on Friday over the "police's disproportionate force" in Serbia, urging authorities to "end arbitrary arrests and de-escalate the situation". Vučić responded to Saturday's developments on Instagram, writing that "violence is an expression of total weakness" and promising to "punish the bullies." He has repeatedly rejected calls for early elections and denounced the demonstrations as part of a foreign plot to overthrow Foreign Ministry has offered their support to the pro-Moscow right-wing a statement the ministry said that "we cannot remain unresponsive to what is happening in brotherly Serbia." The statement said that police were "using lawful methods and means to contain the violent mobs" and that "public order, security, and human lives" were at daily protests have gripped Serbia since November, after the collapse of the Novi Sad railway station roof that killed 16 tragedy became a symbol of entrenched corruption in the Balkan country, with initial calls for transparent probes growing into demands for early their peak, the protests drew hundreds of thousands on to the streets.
