Police officer tells inquiry force used to restrain Sheku Bayoh was 'justified'

dailyrecord.co.uk:

A police officer said the amount of force used to restrain Sheku Bayoh before he died in police custody was justified, an inquiry into his death has heard.

Pc Ashley Tomlinson, giving evidence at the public hearing in Edinburgh on Thursday, said he used the highest level of police force - level 5, known as "deadly or lethal force" - when attempting to restrain the 31-year-old after he believed Mr Bayoh had killed his colleague, Pc Nicole Short.

The inquiry was told this level of force has the potential to cause serious injury or even death when it is applied, "and in all circumstances must be proportionate to the perceived threat and degree of jeopardy involved." Mr Tomlinson said he struck Mr Bayoh in the head with his baton after he claimed the detainee punched Ms Short in the back of the head causing her to fall onto the ground before "stomping on her back".

He said: "When I perceived that Pc Short was about to be killed it was level 5 because I was under the genuine belief that he had or was in the process of killing Pc Short."Angela Grahame QC, senior counsel to the inquiry, asked: "Do you consider that the situation you've described was one where the use of deadly force was justified?"Pc Tomlinson replied: "I do."The police officer said he felt Mr Bayoh was displaying the most serious category of resistance - level 6 - where "the perceived threat is that of serious injury or life threatening", and can be with or without a weapon, the inquiry heard.He said: "His (Mr Bayoh's) actions towards Pc Short were that I thought he was going to kill her."We had reports of a knife as well."Ms Grahame askd Pc Tomlinson that he previously said he had not seen a knife in Mr Bayoh's possession at any time during the incident to