THE family of Sheku Bayoh, who died in police custody, have called on Scotland's most senior legal officer to make CCTV and mobile phone footage connected to the alleged incident publicly available.
Aamer Anwar, the lawyer representing the family, made the call for the film of "Sheku's last moments" to be released after a meeting with the Lord Advocate, Frank Mulholland QC, at the Crown Office in Edinburgh.
Mr Anwar said the family had lost confidence in the ongoing investigation into the case by the watchdog, the Police Investigations and Review Commissioner.
Father-of-two Mr Bayoh, 31, died in custody after an alleged incident in as yet unexplained circumstances involving up to nine officers in Kirkcaldy, Fife.
A female officer was injured in the incident which began at around 7am on Sunday, May 3.
A spokesman for the Crown Office said it cannot make such footage public while an investigation is continuing.
Mr Anwar was at the meeting with Collette Bell, Mr Bayoh's partner, his sister Kadijartu Johnson, brother-in-law Adeyemi Johnson and Lorraine Bell, Ms Bell's mother.
Mr Anwar said: "Relevant CCTV footage has been secured, including mobile phone footage from civilians.
"The family has requested the Lord Advocate release the CCTV footage of Sheku’s final moments.
"Certain parties may wish to concentrate on everything apart from what happened to Sheku Bayoh, but when officers armed with CS, pepper spray, batons and handcuffs and restraints, try to subdue someone by force and that person dies, the number one question is whether their actions resulted in that death.
"There has been much talk of a violent confrontation but zero information about any serious physical injuries suffered by nine police officers."
Ms Bell said she believes that "if the police hadn’t treated my Sheku the way they did, he would be here today".
A Crown Office spokesman said: "The Lord Advocate met with the family of Sheku Bayoh and updated them on the progress being made and the next steps for the investigation into his death. It comes after the Pirc submitted their interim report earlier this month.
"There remains work to be done by Pirc before their investigation is complete. The Crown will take the Pirc report into account when carrying out its own investigations and will assess whether or not there should be a criminal prosecution.
"In order for any criminal prosecution to happen, there must be sufficient evidence in law that a crime has been committed.
"The family have been advised, by the Lord Advocate, that as part of the ongoing investigation there are a number of complex issues relating to the cause of death and experts in the field have been instructed to assist in dealing with these issues."
The spokesman added: "The Lord Advocate has reiterated the undertaking previously given to the family that the inquiry will be thorough and completed as soon as is possible."
A spokesman for the Pirc said: "The Commissioner has continued to receive direction from the Lord Advocate throughout this complex and wide ranging investigation and has updated him on the progress.
“On August 7 the Commissioner delivered an interim report of the investigation’s findings which are now being considered by the Lord Advocate.
“The Commissioner continues to work closely with the Lord Advocate to investigate complex lines of inquiry, including gathering further expert opinion in relation to the cause of death.”
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