http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/may/21/cs-pepper-sprays-arrest-sheku-bayoh-death-police-custody?CMP=share_btn_fbAn investigation into a man’s death in police custody has discovered he was hit with CS spray and pepper spray before he apparently suffocated.
Aamer Anwar, a solicitor acting for the family of Sheku Bayoh, who died in Kirkcaldy, Fife, this month, said the new information could be critical because both sprays had been linked to other deaths in custody.
Bayoh is thought to have died from suffocation or “positional asphyxia” after he was restrained during his arrest by up to nine police officers on Sunday 3 May.
Anwar has told Frank Mulholland, Scotland’s lord advocate, that Bayoh’s family was surprised to discover that the sprays’ use was not mentioned in a preliminary postmortem report, despite expert evidence that they could be a contributory factor in deaths in custody.
Deborah Coles, co-director of the deaths in custody campaign Inquest, said: “We have worked on a disturbing number of restraint-related deaths where the use of CS spray has been one of the contributory factors. The potentially fatal consequences of CS spray and restraint are well documented, and implicit in police training and guidance, informed by previous deaths.”
Experts at the Faculty of Forensic and Legal Medicine recently said suspects hit by CS or pepper spray should not be held down on the ground, to avoid causing breathing problems. “Restraint in the prone position must be avoided after exposure. If restrained, breathing must be monitored constantly,” they said (pdf).
In 2010 a detailed review of deaths in custody by the Independent Police Complaints Commission, the watchdog for England and Wales, highlighted a series of cases where police forces were told to improve training for officers after CS and pepper sprays and physical restraints were linked to deaths in custody.
Anwar said he had pressed Scottish investigators and prosecutors to confirm that the use of CS spray and a type of pepper spray known as PAVA (pelargonic acid vanillylamide), now widely used by UK police forces, was central to their investigation into Bayoh’s death.
Anwar said Scotland’s independent police complaints authority, the Police Investigations and Review Commission (PIRC), had assured him that pathologists had been briefed that the sprays were used, as were batons.
The Bayoh family has hired two leading forensic pathologists, Dr Nat Carey and Prof Anthony Bussitil, to advise them on the case.
“These issues are of critical importance and must be considered by crown pathologists in trying to determine the cause of death,” Anwar said. “The sprays’ role in a case of death in custody cannot be ruled out.”
The confrontation between Bayoh, a gas engineer from Sierra Leone, and the police took place after residents reported seeing a man wielding a knife chasing and kicking out at cars.
Officers arrived in six different vehicles, and there were scuffles during Bayoh’s arrest. Bayoh lost consciousness after being restrained on the pavement with his wrists handcuffed behind his back and his legs tied with restraints.
Anwar said he had been told that Bayoh was hit repeatedly with police batons before being restrained. Officers at the scene tried to resuscitate Bayoh but were unable to do so.
The controversy over Bayoh’s death deepened last week when Peter Watson, a lawyer acting for nine officers and the Scottish Police Federation, claimed that one “petite” female officer involved in initially confronting the suspect had feared for her life after Bayoh allegedly repeatedly hit, kicked and stamped on her.
Those allegations and further claims that the officer was hospitalised with serious injuries because of Bayoh’s violence are disputed. It is understood she suffered one minor blow to the head and was discharged from hospital that day, after an outpatient examination.
Police Scotland later had to deny a rumour that circulated soon after Bayoh’s death became public that she had been stabbed.
The PIRC refused to comment on the ongoing investigation. The Crown Office said Anwar’s concerns about the postmortem report’s omission had been passed on to PIRC investigators.
“We can confirm that we have received correspondence from Mr Anwar on behalf of Mr Bayoh’s family and this has been shared with the PIRC,” a spokesman said. “It would be inappropriate for us to comment further in the course of a live and ongoing inquiry.”
Watson, the police lawyer, would not comment on the latest disclosures. “There can be no comment as this is an active inquiry by PIRC,” he said.
