“Over the years it has become clear to the Bayoh family that the police, the PIRC and the Crown office has operated an unholy trinity of dishonesty and racism and incompetence betraying the word justice.” Aamer Anwar, Bayoh family lawyer
On 1 April 2013, Scotland was setting up a single police force. It also set-up the Police Investigations and Review Commissioner, or PIRC. It would do its own investigations – pound pavements, knock doors and conduct interviews.
And – crucially – it would be independent from the police.
Tense, moving and informative. This series is an essential listen that unflinchingly opens up a story about contemporary Scotland.
Podcast review
Independence – and allegations about the lack of it – has been a critical issue at the most recent hearings of the Sheku Bayoh Inquiry. Episode eight looks at the evidence heard so far from PIRC and the Crown about the independence of each organisation.
It includes evidence given about working relationships between police and PIRC officers investigating the Sheku Bayoh case, and the rationale of PIRC to share information about Bayoh’s’s post mortem with officers there at the time of his death.
Presenters Tomiwa Folorunso and Karin Goodwin also hear evidence on the Crown’s own independence and find out why it didn’t consider race as a factor in its approach to assessing whether potential criminality had taken place.
The Ferret continues its summary of the evidence heard so far in its multi-award-nominated podcast.
To make this podcast we’ve spent hours listening to all of the evidence so we can summarise it for you, our listeners. And we need your support to do more. Join us at theferret.scot/subscribe or contribute by giving us a donatation.
Sheku Bayoh: The Inquiry was a finalist for the British Journalist Awards, the Amnesty Media Awards and won runner-up for Podcast of the Year at the Scottish Press Awards 2024.
Credits:
This podcast is devised by Karin Goodwin, Halina Rifai and Tomiwa Folorunso
Presenters: Tomiwa Folorunso and Karin Goodwin
Writing:: Karin Goodwin
Sound production, recording, editing & sound design: Halina Rifai
Original music by Alan Bryden
Images: Angela Catlin
Listen to all the evidence from the Sheku Bayoh Inquiry, or find out how to get a ticket to attend in person at www.shekubayohinquiry.scot
