Police should not have lain on Sheku Bayoh’s torso, says expert

Police officers should not have lain across the torso of Sheku Bayoh as he lay restrained on the ground and they missed chances to call an ambulance despite him presenting “multiple risk factors”, an expert has told the inquiry into his death in custody.

The final written report from Joanne Caffrey, an expert witness on the use of force and police custody, states: “No officer should lay over the torso of a restrained person, whether in prone or supine. This will interfere with breathing.”

The report, published yesterday, also says that “strikes to the head should be immediately declared as high-risk, and [trigger a] request for ambulance attendance”, and that “all restraints should be removed as soon as a person is non-responsive”.

The inquiry previously heard that Bayoh, 31, had been struck over the head with a baton, sprayed with CS and Pava spray and restrained by up to six officers on the ground.

Footage has been shown of chaotic scenes of officers lying across Bayoh’s prone figure, and the inquiry has heard that officers did not remove restraints when he fell unconscious.

Going through the timeline of the incident in Kirkcaldy, Fife, on 3 May 2015 in her report, Caffrey writes: “It is reported that three officers had discharged various quantities of incapacitant spray, and Mr Bayoh had been struck numerous times,” including four baton strikes to the head and two punches to the face.

Despite this, police did not call an ambulance for Bayoh until almost four minutes later, “after he became unconscious and unresponsive”.