5 days ago
EXCLUSIVE Cops paid compensation to 10 Bayoh family members... with one handed over £1m
Up to 10 members of the family of Sheku Bayoh have received compensation from Police Scotland – including a single award of more than £1million.
Relatives of Mr Bayoh, who died in police custody back in 2015, halted their attempt to sue the force in March after reaching an out-of-court settlement in relation to his death.
Mr Bayoh, 31, who was originally from Sierra Leone in west Africa, died in Kirkcaldy, Fife, after being restrained on the street by six police officers.
His family launched a civil action against Police Scotland three years later and an ongoing public inquiry was launched to examine the circumstances leading to Mr Bayoh's death and whether or not race was a factor.
The Mail can reveal up to 10 members of the Bayoh family will receive compensation - and the biggest award to one member is £1,070,000.
The figure appears in a report for the Scottish Police Authority's (SPA) legal committee under the heading 'public liability claims'.
The total figure for all relatives of Mr Bayoh has been kept secret, but in 2018 the Bayoh family's lawyer, Aamer Anwar, said the action for damages in the Court of Session was for £1.85million.
The SPA report said 'quarter 4 saw the settlement of a very large litigation that involved several pursuers'.
Mr Anwar has said previously that Mr Bayoh's case is a 'national disgrace'.
Last night he declined to comment on the compensation payouts.
A Police Scotland spokesman said: 'We cannot confirm or deny this.'
Mr Bayoh left behind a partner, Colette Bell, two young sons, and a close family including his sister Kadijatu Johnson.
In March, a joint statement from Police Scotland and Mr Anwar said a settlement had been agreed without any admission of liability by the force.
The statement said that to 'respect the privacy of the family, the details of the agreement will remain confidential.'.
In March, a spokesman for the Scottish Police Federation (SPF), representing the officers involved, said: 'The SPF is surprised to find that the Chief Constable has decided to settle this claim.'
He added: 'The Bayoh family's solicitor has said that 'those who broke the law should remember there is no time limit on justice'.
'However, the only person who can be said indisputably to have broken the law is Sheku Bayoh.
'On any view of the evidence, he took illegal drugs, engaged in a fight with a friend, armed himself with a large knife and then took to the streets of Kirkcaldy, where he terrified many members of the public who asked the police to help before assaulting a female police officer by punching her to the ground.'
The payouts came after Jo Farrell, Police Scotland's Chief Constable, met the Bayoh family in February and offered an apology to them for their ordeal.
Mr Bayoh, a father-of-two, was detained by a group of officers responding to reports of a man carrying a knife and acting erratically.
Officers restrained him by his legs and arms, used CS spray or tear gas and batons and were accused of using excessive force.
His body was covered in cuts, bruises and grazes, including two dozen injuries to his face and neck.
Mr Bayoh lost consciousness after being restrained and was pronounced dead in hospital.
In 2018, the Lord Advocate ruled that no charges should be brought against any of the officers involved.
A year later Humza Yousaf, then the Justice Secretary, ordered an ongoing public inquiry which has so far cost around £50million, including the amounts spent on it by Police Scotland and the Crown Office.
The SPF is calling for chairman Lord Bracadale to be removed after complaining that his decision to meet Mr Bayoh's family five times could lead to a perception of 'bias'.
The retired High Court judge will chair hearings into his own conduct next week.
Police Scotland have paid out millions of pounds in compensation since 2019 to settle legal actions brought by both the public and their own officers.
The cash-strapped force has paid out more than £18million in compensation payments in the past six years.
Scottish Labour Justice spokesperson Pauline McNeill said these 'significant sums of money' come at a time when 'frontline policing is under so much pressure'.
Police Scotland has said compensation payments are 'dealt with on a case-by-case basis with a view to securing best value for the public purse'.
