Covering the Sheku Bayoh Inquiry
The Sheku Bayoh Inquiry is just about to restart in Edinburgh next week. Sheku Bayoh died in the early morning hours of Sunday, May 3, in 2015. He died after being restrained by up to six police officers responding to emergency calls about a man carrying a knife in Kirkcaldy.
Nearly eight years later, Bayoh’s family is still searching for answers and justice surrounding the disputed details of his death. In May last year, the Scottish government launched a public inquiry to uncover the truth of what happened to Sheku Bayoh during the police intervention.
For more info on Sheku Bayoh Public Inquiry and how to support Sheku’s family go to the Justice for Sheku campaign page HERE and follow @justiceforsheku
If you want to educate yourself on the case – and get up to speed with the inquiry – you could do no better than listen to The Ferret’s podcast Sheku Bayoh, the Inquiry, hosted by Karin Goodwin and freelance writer and editor Tomiwa Folorunso. The podcast aims to tell the story of Bayoh, his death and that of the investigation and events surrounding it, while closely scrutinising Scotland’s justice system as facts of the case come to light.
The podcast, which launched in January, has covered each of the three hearings held so far, summarising all the evidence emerging from the ongoing public inquiry into the death of Sheku Bayoh, who died in police custody. It aims to tell his story in an engaging but informative and balanced way, helping make the often technical and lengthy hearings accessible.
Six episodes have been published so far and earlier this month it earned a nomination for a 2023 British Journalism Award in the Social Affairs, Diversity & Inclusion category – both the only Scottish and the only independent nominee.
Karin Goodwin said: “At the heart of this story is the tragic death of one man and his family. But in following the inquiry so far we have also found that it’s a story with deep ramifications for policing, the justice system and contemporary Scotland.
“Over the years the family’s fight for justice has made headlines. But our podcast aims to do something different, offering an engaging but comprehensive and indepth account of a hugely significant public inquiry that will serve as a public record.”
New episodes of the podcast are available on all major platforms. For full information on the podcast visit: https://theferret.scot/audio-and-podcasts/sheku-bayoh-the-inquiry
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At least someone is brave enough to cover in depth a story that has deep ramifications for modern-day Scottish society, as well as policing and the legal system. The BBC’s coverage of the inquiry has been sketchy and as far as the entire media in Scotland that’s as good as it’s gotten. It just doesn’t feature in blogs, online magazines, or newspaper comment which I find bizzaire. Seriously, in Scotland illegal immigrants getting arrested gets way more coverage and online outrage than a legal immigrant getting killed by the police. That’s bizzaire. There are expalainations for that, but I don’t wish to dwell on them because none of them are in any way good.