A retired police officer who was allegedly punched in the head by Sheku Bayoh has told the investigation into his death that he believed he showed “superhuman strength” in lifting three other officers off the ground while fighting his restraint. .
Nicole Short, who burst into tears when asked to confirm her name at the start of the day’s proceedings, described being “overwhelmed with terror” when the “scary” Bayoh approached her with his fists. raised.
Bayoh was handcuffed and injured multiple times after officers responded to calls from the public about a man brandishing a knife and behaving erratically on a Sunday morning in Kirkcaldy, Fife, in May 2015.
The independent investigation, under Lord Bracadale and taking place in Edinburgh, is the result of years of campaigning by the Bayoh family, who believe that his death was caused by positional asphyxia due to the tactics used by the police. They allege that the agents overreacted and were motivated by racial prejudice.
Short, who was questioned Tuesday about earlier statements in which she described the father of two as “revengeful,” “stubborn to hurt someone,” and “a terrifying madman,” told Angela Grahame QC, “She had a genuine belief that he was going to kill me. “
Nicole Short arrives at the Capital House in Edinburgh for public investigation into Sheku Bayoh’s death. Photo: Andrew Milligan / PA
When asked if Bayoh looked like that because he was black, Short replied, “Absolutely not.”
He said Bayoh had left “completely insensitive” after being shot with CS spray and pepper spray by PC Craig Walker and former PC Alan Paton, the first officers to respond to the incident. She described how she took the baton off Bayoh, who advanced toward her with “a boxer’s jump.”
When she closed the distance between them, “instinct started” and she started running, she told the consultation. “I just remember feeling all-powerful on the back of my head … I tried to stand up, but I couldn’t,” he said. Short, who is 5 feet 1 inch tall and weighed 44 kg (7th) at the time, said he “crawled on a ball” on the ground.
He told the investigation that only later, when officers involved in Bayoh’s arrest gathered in the staff dining room, his colleagues told him that they believed he had become unconscious and that they had seen Bayoh “stamping and giving his feet “. She herself had no recollection of it.
Short was directed through statements from medical examiners who found no hematomas in the torso and did not diagnose concussion. He described seeking medical advice in the following days with concern for headache and swelling next to his face.
After retiring in a police van, Short said he later saw Bayoh in a “pressure position” and “lifting” three fellow men on top of him.
On Friday, Walker said the restriction began after he saw Bayoh make a “force seal” on Short. She recalled: “I remember thinking these were three of the biggest guys on the turn … it didn’t look like anything I’d seen before in my life.”
Accepting that Bayoh’s behavior led her to believe that she might have been under the influence of alcohol or drugs, Grahame asked Short if she had considered holding him back or calling an ambulance. She replied, “There was no way to contain it,” and added that her main concern was public safety after “numerous calls” about a man with a knife.
When asked if he had ever witnessed an incident with a black man, Short replied, “I don’t think he did,” but added, “His career had nothing to do with how we handled the call.”
In an initial statement from the investigation, Short said he had withdrawn from the force after suffering physical and psychological injuries from the incident.
The consultation continues.